Hide and Go Seek
by linlawless
Summary: My take on some FNF prompts at RTN. Elizabeth runs into Jason while she's trying to avoid Lucky, leading to changes in their relationship...
1. Hide & Seek

**A/N: Ok, so this is my very first fanfic. I hope you enjoy it (please be constructive!). It's a little AU but should be pretty self-explanatory. I was going to end it here, but the feedback at RTN has been encouraging so I am thinking of continuing ...**

**Prompt: Take cover**

Elizabeth peered cautiously through the window at Kelly's before opening the door slowly. She didn't want to alert anyone to her presence in case HE was there.

She caught Penny's eye and mouthed, "Is the coast clear?"

Penny laughed and nodded. "If you mean Lucky, he was here a while ago looking for you but left when I told him you had the day off."

Elizabeth let out the breath she had been holding. "Thanks."

"What's up with you guys, anyway? You two have been thick as thieves since the minute you met him, and suddenly you hide if you even think he might be walking in."

"It's a long story," Elizabeth replied. Actually, it wasn't that long of a story, but she just didn't want to get into it right now. She had been avoiding Lucky for days, ever since he had tried to kiss her. What was THAT about? It was true, as Penny had said, that she and Lucky had been friends, good friends, practically inseparable, ever since she had started at PCU last year, but that was as far as it went. She didn't think of him like that, and she couldn't imagine that she ever would. So why did he have to blow a good thing by trying to kiss her?

Okay, so he had been drunk, but still. It had all started like a typical Friday night at Jake's, with the Four Musketeers sharing some pitchers of beer and playing pool at Jake's. And like always, Emily had been flirting with Nikolas, hoping that just this once, he would see her as a potential date and not as an asexual being who happened to be his close friend. And as usual, Elizabeth had been playing pool – badly – with whichever of her friends was up for it.

And then some guys she knew from her history class came in and joined them, and somehow everything went downhill.

At least for her – it couldn't have worked out better for Emily, because when Nik saw Jack flirting outrageously with Emily, and Emily flirting back, he suddenly seemed to see her in a whole different light, and he started flirting, too. And the next thing Liz knew, Emily and Nik had disappeared to find some privacy, and then it was just her, Lucky, Jack, and Andrew. And the more Andrew and Jack teased and flattered Elizabeth, the quieter Lucky got -- and the more he drank. Until finally, he looked like he was about to pass out where he sat, and Elizabeth realized she had to get him home before he did.

And when she finally half-dragged him to his room, he tried to kiss her! And the worst part was, he started babbling about how he had always loved her, and how he could imagine them married and raising children and how happy they would be. And as she sat there, stunned, trying to wrap her brain around the idea of her and Lucky together like that (an image that made her feel slightly nauseous since he had always been almost like a brother to her), he had thankfully passed out. And she had run.

XXXXXXXXXX

Elizabeth shook herself out of her memories and saw Penny looking at her expectantly. "What?"

"I asked if you wanted anything?"

"Oh, sorry, yeah, could I get some chili to go?"

"Sure." The bell on the door jingled, and Elizabeth tensed. When she turned to look, her tension morphed into a kind of edgy awareness.

Jason Morgan nodded politely but didn't say anything until he reached her standing at the counter. Even then, all he said to her was, "Hey." Then, without giving her a chance to respond, he looked at Penny, saying only, "Black coffee to go. Thanks."

As Elizabeth stood there, tongue-tied as she always was around Jason, she felt a sudden twinge of sympathy for Lucky. Apparently, he had been feeling for her the same unrequited passion she had been feeling for Jason ever since Emily had introduced them almost a year ago. No one knew about her secret crush, not even Emily, since it would be too weird to admit to Em that she had the hots for Em's brother. Besides, it was hopeless and would be so embarrassing if anyone ever found out.

As she scrambled for something to say, she idly wondered if it was better that she rarely interacted with Jason, or if it would be better to be like Lucky, spending every waking moment with someone who didn't return her feelings. And she sighed as Jason said, "see ya later," grabbed his coffee, and left before he even heard her reply, "Yeah, later."

XXXXXXXXXX

Twenty minutes later, Elizabeth sat on a bench looking out over the water, finishing her chili and wondering what to do about Lucky. She certainly couldn't keep avoiding him, but she couldn't let him think there could be something between them and she certainly couldn't break his heart. So she kept going round and round, looking for a way out that would spare his feelings.

She could join a convent. Except she wasn't Catholic, and she was pretty sure that was a requirement.

She could join the Peace Corps. But she hated bugs and nature and all that, and she was positive they didn't send volunteers to Paris or Venice or anywhere _good_.

She could tell him she was a lesbian. But he already probably knew she wasn't, since she and Emily didn't really censor their girl-talk around Lucky.

She sighed. Too bad she didn't already have a boyfriend …

_Wait, that might be a viable alternative_. She didn't want to lead anyone on, but she could probably go on a few dates or something. She decided to call Emily to run the idea by her and see what she thought.

Before she could even pull out her phone, she heard heavy footsteps, and turned to see Jason coming down the stairs, drinking his coffee.

"Hey again," said Jason, with what might have been a small smile. Except this was Jason, and he didn't smile, she thought distractedly.

"Hey," she managed. "Twice in one day. What are the odds?"

Definitely a smile, she thought, perplexed, as she watched it widen and her heart sped up in response.

"What are you doing?" he asked, walking toward her.

"Just sitting here trying to figure something out."

"Anything I can help with?"

"What? No, really it's no big … well, maybe … no, it's not important … well, it is kind of but I don't think I can tell you …" she stammered.

"Elizabeth," he broke in, sitting down on the bench next to her as her heart threatened to beat right out of her chest, "why don't you take a breath and tell me what's going on. Even if I can't fix it, saying it out loud might help."

So she took a deep breath and said on a single exhale, "Lucky kissed me the other night and I've been avoiding him and I don't know how to tell him I don't like him like that and I'm not Catholic and I hate bugs and I'm not into girls and I can't keep diving for cover whenever I see him so I have to talk to him …"

"Whoa, whoa, take another breath," Jason looked both completely confused and like he was trying not to laugh, which Elizabeth didn't even know was possible. She could feel herself turning red as she wondered how he could look so hot with that expression on his face.

"Let me get this straight," he said, still trying to keep a straight face. "You just figured out that Lucky has a thing for you and you don't know how to handle it, so you're avoiding him, but what was the part about religion and bugs?'

"Well, that's not really important because I already ruled out a convent and the Peace Corps. I was just thinking if Lucky knew I had a boyfriend already, he would take it better and things could go back to normal." Elizabeth had a hard time focusing with Jason's full attention on her. He should be required to register those eyes as a lethal weapon, she thought irrelevantly.

"You have a boyfriend?" he asked, suddenly looking not the least bit amused.

Liz felt her blush getting deeper. "No, but I was thinking about going on a few dates so Lucky would think I did and wouldn't be upset."

"I hate to tell you, but he's gonna be upset either way." Jason looked amused again. "Why not just tell him the truth?"

"I can't hurt him like that! That would be cruel. Besides, isn't it better if it's not that I'd rather be alone than with him, but that someone else swept me off my feet first?"

Jason sighed and shook his head, "then why not tell him you're dating someone and leave it at that?"

She was shocked at the suggestion. "I can't LIE to him. What an awful thing to suggest! He's my friend! And anyway, he would want to meet whoever I'm dating and then what would I do?"

"Well, I guess you're stuck." He glanced over her shoulder at the stairs behind her. "And don't look now, but here he comes, so you better either decide what to tell him or take cover fast."

Elizabeth panicked. She froze for half a second, then realized Jason was moving to get up and leave them alone, so she did the only thing she could think of -- she grabbed the front of his leather jacket, and yanked his mouth down onto hers.


	2. Desperation, Denial, & Decisions

**A/N: Thanks so much for all your reviews & encouragement. It is kind of addictive, and inspired me to continue quickly, in response to another prompt at RTN. Here is the next part; I hope it is everything you hoped for!**

**FNF #8: Desperation, Denial, and Decisions **

**Prompt: At night in the dark when the sun goes down**

Jason froze for a few seconds. _What is she doing?!_ he thought, stunned. He began to pull back, but then he felt her grip tighten – signaling her desperation and her panic -- and he couldn't do it. So he took the only other route open to him – he relaxed into the kiss. And then he couldn't think at all.

He could only feel; his senses heightened and focused in on her – the softness of her lips against his; the sweet almond smell of her skin; the soft sound of her sigh as she opened her mouth to his questing tongue; the slight taste of the chili she must have eaten just before he arrived at the docks ...

Instinctively, he took control, deepening the kiss, sliding his hands around her waist and under her shirt to the skin of her back, almost moaning with pleasure as her hands left his jacket and slid up into his hair to pull him even closer…

"Elizabeth?" Dimly Jason heard a voice calling her name. "Elizabeth!" This time it was more insistent and suddenly she jerked back, tearing her lips from his and almost knocking herself off the bench as her eyes went wide. She didn't fall only because Jason tightened his hands around her waist. She looked away, turning such a deep red that had he not seen her skin in its usual creamy shade just moments ago, he'd have thought she was badly sunburned.

"Elizabeth, what are you doing?" Lucky sounded shocked and appalled and Jason watched, fascinated, as Elizabeth opened her mouth, then closed it, then repeated this sequence three more times as Lucky asked again, "what are you doing? With _him_? Elizabeth?"

After another short silence, Elizabeth finally closed her eyes and said very softly, "Lucky." That was it. Jason waited for her to say more, ducked his head to try to catch her eye, but she just sat there with her eyes closed, as though she wanted to be anywhere else. She just sat there, the way little Michael might play hide and seek – "hiding" by simply closing his own eyes because he thought if he couldn't see you, you couldn't see him. As he watched, the blood drained from her face, leaving it completely, starkly white.

Jason glanced at Lucky, who was watching Elizabeth with a look that said more clearly than words, _this can't be real… this can't be happening ... Elizabeth, with __**Jason**__?!_

After a silence that seemed an eternity, but was probably only a few short seconds, it became clear that Elizabeth was either unwilling or unable to say anything else, so Jason cleared his throat and, as calmly as he could manage, said, "Lucky, what's happening?"

Lucky finally tore his gaze from Elizabeth and looked at Jason. His hands were still at her waist, and hers had come to rest on his chest after her aborted attempt to pull away. Neither of them had made a further move to break these points of contact. Lucky opened his mouth to reply, then closed it when he realized there was nothing to say. He just shook his head once, as though to clear his senses, and turned and walked back the way he came. Jason watched him go, wondering if Lucky was actually trying to go back in time, to before he had seen the woman he apparently loved kissing another man.

Jason shook the thought away and looked back to Elizabeth. He tentatively said her name, and had to lean closer to hear her whispered response. "Is he gone?"

"Yeah, he's gone." She slowly opened her eyes and looked at him, so he smiled gently. "It's okay," he said, because she looked like she was about to bolt.

She groaned and buried her face in her hands, blushing deeply again. "Tell me that did not just happen," she said on a moan. "Tell me I did not just attack you and Lucky did not just see … oh, God, what did I just _do_?"

Jason was torn between concern, amusement, and lingering arousal. He said, "I would hardly call that an attack. Relax, breathe, everything is fine. You're okay."

She dropped her hands, met his eyes briefly before her gaze skittered away to a point over his left shoulder. "How can you say that?" she asked in a high-pitched squeak. "You were just sitting here minding your own business and I attacked you. Oh, God, you must think … oh, God, what am I doing? You must hate me. And poor Lucky… oh, _God_ …" She looked ready to cry.

"Hey, hey, relax, it was just a kiss. No big deal. I don't think anything, and I certainly don't hate you. And I thought the whole point was for Lucky to see it."

"Oh, God, I'm so sorry," she said, as if she hadn't heard him. "I'll leave, I'll just go. You can just forget all about this … I'll see you later, I have to go."

And even as he started to object, saying, "Elizabeth, please …" she broke free of his grip and practically ran from his sight.

XXXXXXXXXX

An hour later, Jason still sat alone on the bench, staring out at the water as the sun set. Soon it would be dark, and he thought he should probably move. Sonny and Carly would be expecting him at the penthouse for dinner. He was probably already late, and Carly would worry. Still, he sat there long after the sun had finished its descent, long after the harbor lights had come on, long after the crescent moon had begun its trek across the sky.

He usually didn't spend much time dwelling on things, but he kept thinking about that kiss. About Elizabeth. He had known her by sight for ages; she was, after all, one of his sister's closest friends. He had always believed that there was nothing more to it than that. If anyone had asked, he'd have said she was certainly pretty, and she seemed nice enough, a good friend to his sister, but that was as far as it went. She was a nice girl, and nice girls weren't for the likes of him, so he just never thought about her at all.

That's what he would have said, and he'd have believed it was true, until today. Until that kiss. Suddenly, he realized he had been kidding himself, in denial of his feelings. That kiss changed everything. The only question remaining was what he would do about it.

She had panicked and run away, clearly embarrassed because she had kissed him, and because Lucky had seen them. If her reaction to discovering Lucky's feelings was any indication, she would probably try to avoid him as well, Jason mused.

She had started the kiss because of her inability to handle Lucky's feelings for her, as a way to avoid telling him that she didn't reciprocate. But that didn't change the fact that she had been enjoying the kiss as much as he had, before Lucky's interruption. He himself was a little embarrassed that he had forgotten their audience, had lost track of his surroundings as he lost himself in her. But although that could be dangerous for a man in his line of work, he couldn't bring himself to regret it.

She had opened the door on feelings he had been suppressing, and he was not one to ignore realities once he was aware of them. Decision made, he got up from the bench, pulling out his phone to call Sonny, to say he was on his way.

She could run all she wanted, but he wasn't going to let her hide from him the way she hid from Lucky. That kiss was the beginning, not the end, he promised himself.

_No_, he thought, with absolute certainty, _this is not over. Not by a long shot_.


	3. Strategy & Patience

**_A/N: Honestly, I had trouble with this prompt and I'm still not sure how well it fits, but here is a new installment. Hope you like it. Thanks for all your feedback and encouragement! I am so grateful!_**

**Prompt: "I tried to paint you a picture, but the colors were all wrong, black and white didn't fit you, you were shaded with patience, your strokes of everything that I need just to make it." - All We Are, One Republic**

Elizabeth rolled over in bed and groaned as she blindly fumbled for the snooze button. She sighed in relief as she finally found it, and snuggled back down for a few more moments of dozing before she would have to get up and face the day. As she drifted toward the beckoning depths of unconsciousness, her thoughts drifted to what she might do today, after she worked her early shift at Kelly's. Maybe if the weather was good, she would sit in the park and sketch the fountain. She had been wanting to do that for weeks, but hadn't found the time. Who knew that it could take so much work to avoid Lucky?

At that thought, her eyes shot open – _Lucky!_ She pulled the covers over her head. He must _hate_ her, after seeing her kissing Jason on the docks the other day. Actually, she realized now that she had not actually had to work all that hard to avoid him the last few days, so maybe _he_ was avoiding _her_. Or maybe, she thought with a frown, he left town. Great, now she had to worry that she had ruined her best friend's life as well as humiliated herself.

So, of course, all her efforts had now shifted to avoiding _Jason._ Who knew that would be a problem? She used to see him a couple of times a month, once a week at most – she used to wish she would run into him more but had been unable to think of reasons to be at the places he went – the warehouse, his room at Jake's, Sonny's penthouse.

So she had been forced to make do with a quick glimpse when he came into Kelly's. Now that she actually _didn't_ want to see him, he was around _constantly_. He suddenly came to Kelly's at least once a day, and sometimes more – for coffee, for lunch, to talk to Bobbie, to meet Emily. He had been in _eight_ times in the past three days. She didn't think she had seen him eight times in the past three months!

And he _watched_ her. No more stopping in for takeout with barely a glance in her direction. Oh, no, he came in and sat down at a corner table and no matter what else he was doing, she felt his eyes on her. She was so embarrassed, though, that she avoided his eyes and pretended she was too busy to say more to him than was necessary to take his order. It seemed he had caught on to that, though, and yesterday, the two times he came in had been during slow periods rather than the breakfast or lunch rush. So naturally, she saw him sit down and disappeared into the back to take her break.

Her alarm sounded again, and she sighed in defeat as she turned it off and got out of bed. She could only hope that he would return to his normal schedule soon, since she couldn't exactly avoid Kelly's.

XXXXXX

Jason hid a smile as he walked into Kelly's, and predictably, Elizabeth ducked into the back, calling back to Penny that she was taking her break. His expectation that she would avoid him had turned out to be completely accurate. He suspected, however, that she was finding it a bit more difficult to do than she might have anticipated.

After much thought, he had concluded that his decision to win Elizabeth would require strategy and patience, two of his best strengths. To start with, he would simply be _there_, frequently, wherever she happened to be. Usually, that meant Kelly's, since he didn't know her well enough to show up at her studio or her grandmother's house. Eventually, he figured she would run out of ways to avoid him and she would _have_ to talk to him. He had wondered why Lucky hadn't thought of that, but then realized that Lucky wasn't exactly the brightest bulb in Port Charles.

Jason sat at a table in the corner and settled in to wait.

"What can I get you?" Penny asked.

"I'll just start with coffee for now, but I'll probably order more later." As Penny went to get the coffee, Jason opened the newspaper he had bought on his way in and began to scan the headlines, keeping one eye out on the door to the back so that when Elizabeth reappeared, he would be ready. He was amused when, after ten minutes, he caught the slight movement of the door as she peeked out, glanced nervously around the restaurant, then disappeared again when she saw he was still there.

Five minutes after that, she came back out, and waited on several other customers, avoiding his eye as he abandoned all pretense of doing anything but watch her.

Twenty minutes later, his patience was rewarded as he heard Penny tell Elizabeth she was going on break. He was also now one of only two patrons in the restaurant, which was perfect because if he had been the only one, she would have gone in the back until Penny came back on duty. He took a breath and called, "Elizabeth, could I get some more coffee, please?"

She jumped at the sound of his voice. "Um, yeah, sure," she stammered as she picked up the pot.

He waited until she had poured the coffee and was turning to leave, then said, "So, what's good today?"

She jumped again, and said, "Oh, um, the usual. You know, um, chili, or there's always the number three, or, well, I don't know, what do you usually like?"

"Elizabeth, would you please take a breath and relax? You're making me nervous here."

Her eyes flew to his, then skittered away. "What? You're not … you don't get nervous," she blurted. She started to turn away again, but he grabbed her hand gently and began rubbing his thumb back and forth across the delicate skin on the inside of her wrist. He felt her pulse pick up speed.

He dipped his head to look in her eyes. "Elizabeth, seriously, why don't you just sit down for a minute and talk to me?" he asked softly.

She sighed and finally looked at him, _really_ looked at him, for the first time all week. "I can't, I'm working." She wished he would stop doing that to her wrist. It was really … _distracting_.

He waved his free hand around the restaurant. "It's not exactly busy."

She glanced around and saw that the only other patron had left. She blushed lightly as she realized they were alone. She opened her mouth to make another excuse, but couldn't think of one, so she sighed again and slid into the chair next to him, setting the coffee pot on the table between them. "What did you want to talk about?" she asked, stalling for time. She picked up the salt shaker, then put it back down and started sliding it back and forth between her hands, studiously avoiding his gaze. Maybe someone would come in. Maybe there would be a flash flood, or a tornado, or an earthquake.

Jason slipped his finger under her chin and tipped her face up until she stopped playing with the salt shaker and looked at him again. "Why are you avoiding me? And don't try to tell me you're not," he added as she opened her mouth to do just that.

That he could read her so well on such limited acquaintance really irritated her. "I would think that would be obvious," she snapped.

"What, you're avoiding me because of one simple little kiss?" he asked, trying to sound surprised despite having anticipated this reaction. He smiled innocently at her. He would rather have her mad at him than avoiding him… she was even more adorable this way, which, considering how beautiful she was anyway, was really saying something.

She glared at him, turning bright red. "It was hardly a simple little kiss!" she fumed. "I practically _attacked_ you! You were just sitting there, being so nice to me, letting me vent and be all crazy, and then you said Lucky was coming and I know you were going to leave and I just couldn't face him and I practically _mauled_ you …" she broke off, unable to continue with her outburst.

"I wasn't exactly complaining," he teased. She looked unconvinced, so he continued, "You can attack me anytime you want." He paused to see if she would respond. When she didn't he said, "Really, it was fine."

"Jason," she moaned, "_stop_ trying to make me feel better. You don't think of me like that -- I mean you probably don't think of me at all, and really, it had to be _so_ awful to have someone _force_ you like that."

He could see she was getting herself worked up again, so he broke in, "Elizabeth, if you hadn't noticed, you're not exactly big enough to force me stay anywhere I don't want to be – or to do anything I don't want to do. And what makes you think I don't think about you?"

"What … um … well, come on, Jason, you hardly even know me, and we've hardly spoken more than two words to each other before."

"I don't talk much," he said rationally. She gave him a sarcastic look, and he again strove to appear innocent. "What?"

She rolled her eyes and he had to lean closer to hear her mutter, "You seem to have plenty to say now."

"What was that?" he asked.

"Nothing. Just forget it. In fact, can we just agree to forget the whole thing? Just pretend the other day never happened? You can go back to your normal routine and …"

"No," Jason said the single word calmly, but with complete conviction.

"… I can go back to mine," she continued as though she hadn't heard him, "and we'll…"

"No," Jason repeated patiently.

"… go back to being friendly acquaintances who hardly ever …"

"No," he said a third time, still calmly and certainly.

"…see each other." She paused, having finally registered his denials. She looked him straight in the eye. "What do you mean, _no_?"

"What do you mean, what do I mean?"

"You can't mean you don't want to forget about it?" She sounded – and looked – stunned at the thought. "Why would you not want to forget about it?" she asked, almost to herself.

"Why would I not want to _remember_ it?" he countered.

"Jason …" she sounded exasperated.

"Elizabeth …" he gently mocked. "Seriously, I _liked_ kissing you. In fact, I liked it a _lot_. Why would I want to forget it when I want to do it again, preferably soon? Or better yet, now?"

She froze, looking back at him wide-eyed, as he leaned toward her …


	4. Advance & Retreat

**FNF #10: Advance and Retreat**

_As always, thanks for your encouragement & your reviews. It is so nice that so many of you are on board with what I've done so far!_

**Prompt: **_**Put that away, we don't have time for that right now.**_

Elizabeth sat, frozen, as Jason dipped his head toward hers. He moved slowly, his eyes locked with hers, giving her plenty of time to pull away. A little voice in her head was screaming at her to do just that, to "_get up, get out of here before …"!_

But she didn't move, couldn't turn away from the intense look in his eyes. Just as his lips whispered over hers, she closed her eyes and sighed into him, anticipating the pleasure to come … and as his lips touched hers, she thought she heard bells … and then he pulled back and muttered something under his breath.

Her eyes flew open and she blushed when she realized she had heard actual bells – both from the door and from the cell phone he was pulling from the pocket of his leather jacket. He glanced down at it and sighed as he flipped it open and spoke into it quietly. She started to jump up and go back to work, but he tightened his grip on her hand and shook his head, tilting it back toward the chair she had just vacated. She jerked her head toward the door to silently indicate she had to go back to work, but he stubbornly shook his head again and tugged her back down beside him. Once she was seated, and had stopped trying to pull her hand away, he turned his eyes toward the door as he finished his conversation. She heard him say, "Yeah, Sonny, but it'll be a couple of hours. I'm right in the middle of something. No, I can't – it's important."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and waved her free hand toward the door behind her, trying to communicate silently that he was free to go, but he never took his eyes from whoever had walked in the door. She started to turn to see for herself who it was, but then he said, "Yeah, okay, bye," and hung up. He caught her eye and said, "Now, where were we?" and started to lean in again.

This time, however, she turned away and said abruptly, "It's fine if you have to go. I have to get back to work anyway." Again she started to turn to see who had come in, although she could now hear Penny conversing with whoever had come in.

Sure enough, Jason said, "I don't have to go yet, and Penny's got it covered for the moment."

"Yeah, but it's not fair to her …"

"Elizabeth, it's one customer. She can handle it." He sounded annoyed, but he was again looking past her toward Penny and the unknown customer, and she got the sense the annoyance was directed there rather than at her.

"Fine, we can talk for a minute if you want, but no kissing. I'm at work. And why would you want to kiss me anyway?"

He pulled his gaze back to her and replied, "I told you, I like kissing you." She opened her mouth to protest, but he laid a finger gently across her lips and continued. "Okay, look, I'll leave it alone for the moment if you agree to go out with me when you get off work."

"Jason, I …"

Elizabeth wasn't sure what she had been about to say, but in any event, she didn't get the chance to finish the thought as the customer at the counter had apparently seen them for the first time.

"Well, look who we have here. Hello, Angerboy, killed anyone lately?" Taggart strolled over to their table and continued in the same disdainful tone, "And who's this you've got with you? Does she know she's sitting with a cold-blooded killer?" He glanced at Elizabeth, then did a double take as he realized who it was. "Elizabeth, I'm very disappointed to see you with this thug." He glanced at Jason's hand on her wrist and asked suspiciously, "Is he holding you here against your will?"

Jason started to take his hand away, but Elizabeth turned her hand to clasp it in his, and squeezed gently. He opened his mouth to tell Taggart to either arrest him for something or leave him alone, but Elizabeth beat him to the punch.

"Taggart, how nice to see you," she said in a deceptively sweet tone as she looked up at him with wide eyes. "And it's _so_ nice of you to be concerned about me, although I don't really know why you would be so rude to Jason, since he hasn't done anything wrong."

"Yeah, maybe today," Taggart said dryly.

"Last I heard," Elizabeth responded, "Jason hadn't been convicted of anything worse than speeding. Or did I miss a headline?"

Jason wanted to laugh at the look on Taggart's face, but he maintained his usual emotionless façade, and just internally enjoyed watching Elizabeth sweetly tear the detective to pieces with words. Taggart said tightly, "Just because he hasn't been convicted doesn't mean he isn't guilty. Take my advice, and get away with him before you get hurt."

"Jason would never hurt me," Elizabeth said confidently, locking eyes with Jason.

"I know you want to believe that, but he's dangerous. He causes trouble all over town," Taggart looked ready to continue, but Elizabeth cut him off.

"Not to me," she insisted, her eyes still locked with his. "He's my best friend's brother. And he's my friend, too. And the only person causing any trouble _here_, Lieutenant Taggart, is you." She squeezed Jason's hand again, then let go as she stood up and tore her gaze from Jason to look at Taggart intently. "Now, I have to get back to work, and Lieutenant, I believe Penny has your order ready." She gestured for him to precede her back over to the counter. As Taggart walked away, she turned back to Jason, saying, "I'll see you later. My shift ends at eight. You can pick me up here." Taggart turned back to protest, but at her raised eyebrow, thought better of it. With a last look at Jason, she turned on her heel and headed back to work.

As the door closed behind Taggart, the corner of Jason's mouth quirked up into a satisfied little smile. He wasn't sure if Elizabeth would have agreed to see him later tonight if not for Taggart's verbal attack. Who knew he would ever be grateful for one of the constant little annoyances in his life?

Elizabeth in defense of him was a sight to behold. Not that he actually needed her to defend him from Taggart or anyone else, but in this case, it had furthered his cause, so he chose not to tell her that. And he was downright encouraged by her quick defense of him, taking it as a confirmation of his belief that she had strong feelings for him. He figured all he would need to do was continue to counteract any roadblocks she might put up, and he would eventually win her completely.

He watched as she returned to the counter from the back room. She was looking down at the counter as she wiped it, and in case she was avoiding him again, he decided to make a tactical retreat while he had her agreement to see him tonight. He folded his newspaper, stood, and walked to the door. There he paused, deciding on impulse to give her something new to think about between now and this evening. He walked over to the counter, tipped her chin up with his finger, and pressed a quick, hard kiss to her startled lips. Not giving her a chance to say anything, he said, "I'll see you here at eight," and then he was gone.


	5. A Date & A Dare

**FNF # 11: A Date and a Dare**

_A/N: Sorry for the long delay -- I had a bit of writer's block. I'm not entirely happy with this, but at least I started writing again. As always, feedback is greatly appreciated. _

**Prompt: I stuffed myself sick on your memory and the beautiful mess we'd made...but I'm so tired of being inspired only when things slip away. - Matt Nathanson (from "First Time")**

Elizabeth paced nervously in the kitchen, watching time tick by on the cell phone she held more tightly than strictly necessary. 7:53. She flipped it open, punched in three digits, then sighed and closed it again. She still couldn't figure out how to explain to Emily why she suddenly needed Jason's number. She could hardly say, "In a moment of insanity, I agreed to a date with your brother, and now I need his phone number so I can call him to cancel." That would not go over well – at a minimum, it would raise a lot of questions she couldn't really answer

He would be here any minute. _Why, oh, why, did I agree to this date? Assuming it is a date? Maybe Jason just wanted to…_ Elizabeth paused in her pacing _… what? Piss off Taggert?_ She was honest enough with herself, just this once, to recognize that she had agreed to go because Taggert's nasty attitude was so unfair to Jason. That had brought out her inevitable instinct to defend anyone she considered a friend, no matter how casual, and no matter whether an attack might logically be justified.

Not to mention, Taggert's attempt to tell her what to do brought up every memory she ever had of her well-meaning, clueless family trying to make her become a doctor and marry a blue-blood and do the million and one other things they were sure were best for her -- all the things that she wanted no part of. Their attempts to make her conform had never failed to bring out her contrary side, and Taggert's well-meaning interference had the same effect.

So she knew why she had ignored her own rational side and agreed to go out with Jason.

But that didn't explain why Jason had asked her. She didn't think Taggert could've heard him trying to persuade her – Jason had been talking quietly, probably trying to avoid yet another unpleasant scene. And besides, pissing off Taggert wouldn't account for how much time Jason had spent hanging around so much for the past few days.

And most of all, for all she didn't really know him all that well, Elizabeth had to figure from the snippets she caught about him, from Emily as well as other mutual acquaintances, that he just didn't play games with people. So, although she couldn't quite figure out why, it appeared that Jason actually wanted to spend time with her. And he had even said he liked kissing her and wanted to do it again.

And if she were really honest with herself, she felt the same way.

But he was so far out of her league that the whole idea was laughable. He was gorgeous and sexy and so … well, _him_, and she was just … _her_. The memory of kissing him – both the actual kiss from a few days ago and the almost-kiss earlier today – made her feel almost sick with nerves, but she couldn't stop thinking about it. She felt like her heart would race right out of her chest and she would get dehydrated from all the sweat escaping from her palms. So she tried to put it out of her mind, but the memory just kept sneaking up on her.

_What a mess._

She heard the bell chime over the door and she just knew it was him. She took a deep breath, shoved her phone in her pocket, plastered a smile on her face, and went to meet him.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Jason almost laughed at the look on Elizabeth's face when she came out of the kitchen with a big, fake smile on her face. But since he figured one false move would have her running away again, he settled for pretending not to notice, smiling back at her and asking, "Ready to go?"

"Sure." He waited while she said goodbye to Penny and grabbed her jacket, then he held the door for her.

He had taken a chance and ridden his motorcycle. Although she seemed to want to play things safe, he couldn't help thinking that underneath it all, a daredevil was hiding. He figured anyone who kissed him like she did, simply had to have a wild side. And since his plan was to keep her thinking about him -- a lot – he figured appealing to that wild side, keeping her a little off-balance, could only help.

He watched her eyes widen as they approached the bike and it hit her that that was their ride. He hid a smile when she began to nibble her bottom lip, then asked, "Ja—Jason?"

"Yeah?"

"Um, I've never been on one of those before," she gestured toward his bike. "Um, is it – are you sure it's safe?"

"Just try it out," he soothed. "If you hate it, we can stop by my place and pick up my car."

She looked at him skeptically, but she didn't resist when he placed a helmet carefully on her head and fastened the strap. He ducked to meet her gaze with a smile, "You trust me, right?"

"Y-yes," she answered uncertainly.

"Then just hold on tight and lean with me into the curves and everything'll be fine."

"L-lean?"

He smiled at her reassuringly and swung a leg over the seat. "Hop on."

She still looked doubtful, so he added the one thing he knew – from things Emily had said here and there – that she wouldn't be able to resist. "I dare you."

Her head snapped up and her spine straightened, and with a sharp look, she climbed on behind him.

She tentatively gripped his sides, but he grabbed her hands and pulled them around his waist, placing them on top of one another at his navel. He felt his pulse kick up in response to her touch, but suppressed the direction his thoughts wanted to go and instead started the bike and pulled away from the curb.

XXXXXXXX

Elizabeth sat stiffly on the back of Jason's bike, her hands clasped tightly in front of him. Her eyes were squeezed shut and she pressed herself tightly against his back. She couldn't believe she was riding a motorcycle. _How does he know I can never resist a dare? _

Initially, she was so scared she couldn't think. Then sensations started to sneak past her terror. She felt the leather of his jacket against her cheek, the taut strength of his abdominal muscles shifting beneath her hands as he steered the bike. The roar of the motorcycle engine in her ears and the gravity-defying sensation in her stomach when they took a curve fast. The wind whipping the bottom of her hair against her shoulders and neck. She cautiously opened one eye, and that was the moment she knew she was hooked. Her other eye popped open. The everchanging blur of colors now had her full attention, and she forgot to be scared.

The adrenaline rush took her by surprise, and she tried to take in all the sights flying by. She realized he must have felt her relax when his laughter floated past her ear and he patted her clasped hands with one of his own. She wasn't familiar with the route they took, but she didn't care. All that mattered was it was deserted and had lots of curves, and they were going really fast. Her own laughter surprised her when it emerged from deep in her soul, and she shouted with the sheer joy and freedom of the whole experience.

She wanted the ride to go on forever, and was disappointed when she felt the bike beginning to slow. As he pulled over, she leaned forward and asked in a rush, "Why are we stopping? Where are we?"

"This is Vista Pointe," he said over his shoulder. "I thought you might like the view."

"Oh." She let go of his waist reluctantly when he came to a complete stop

He smiled at her attempt to mask her disappointment. He swung a leg over the front and climbed off, then held out a hand to assist her. When he turned her in the direction of Port Charles, she gasped at the twinkling lights of the city spread out in front of her. "Oh my God, it's – wow, Jason – it's so amazing. Wow."

His grin widened at her enthusiasm. "I'm glad you like it."

"Like it? Jason, I love it! How did I not know this was here? Wow!"

He couldn't resist the urge to touch her, so he slid an arm around her shoulders and squeezed. "How'd you like the ride?"

"Oh my god, Jason, it was amazing!" She paused and he could almost see the wheels turning as she tore her gaze away from the view and gave him a considering look. "Can I drive on the way back?"

"What?! No."

"Please?"

"No, Elizabeth, you don't know how and anyway, my bike is too heavy for you to control."

"But you could teach me," she cajoled, batting her lashes at him. Where did women learn to do that, anyway?

He closed his eyes because he could feel himself weakening at the melting look in her big blue eyes. "Not tonight." His eyes shot open. Wait, that wasn't what he meant to say. He meant an unequivocal _no, never, it's not happening ever because it's not safe._

She picked up on his wavering and immediately brightened, "But soon?" she asked hopefully.

He couldn't bring himself to dim the light in her eyes. "We'll see," he finally said.

Her smile got even bigger, and he suddenly desperately needed to kiss her. He leaned forward to do just that, and she was right there with him, her eyelids fluttering closed as she kissed him back. She tasted just as sweet as he remembered as his tongue slipped between her yielding lips.

She was drowning in sensation. Oh, he felt so good. She never wanted to stop kissing him. And the feelings got even better when he turned her more fully into his embrace, letting her feel how much she turned him on. She moaned at the feel of his arousal pressing against her belly, and he deepened the kiss in response. Suddenly, he pulled away. She tried to follow, but he was turning away and trying to push her behind him.

She tried to peer around him, with no success, and she thought she heard him mutter something about rotten timing. Then she realized a car had pulled in behind him. She thought he was being ridiculous trying to hide her and started to say so, but he squeezed her arm gently without looking back, and she saw him very slightly shake his head, so she decided he wanted her to keep quiet.

They were both breathing hard, and she could almost feel him trying to bring himself under control. He seemed convinced that the car posed some sort of threat. She decided to humor him.

A car door slammed and a chill ran down her spine as she heard an icy voice ask, "Well, well, what do we have here?"


	6. Confrontation & Aftermath

_A/N: This wasn't quite where I expected this to go … but the muse has a mind of her own, I guess … what do you think? I love feedback – it inspires me (and my muse)!_

_BTW, I ran a little long on time because I was interrupted by a huge allergy attack. Sorry!_

**FNF #12: Confrontation and Aftermath (Hide & Go Seek, ch. 6)**

**Prompt: With a little help from our friends**

Jason assessed the situation rapidly. Elizabeth was behind him, completely blocked from the view of the new arrival. Another car door slammed and Jason glanced at the hulking bodyguard who now had a gun trained on him. It was fortunate that Elizabeth was so petite – and that she seemed to have understood his silent mandate that she should stay hidden. He hoped she wasn't too scared, although he figured she must be. She had become very still, but he still kept a hand behind him, gently touching her arm, to reassure her – and himself – that he would protect her.

He considered his options carefully, deciding that with Elizabeth there, they were limited. The good news was, Sorel apparently thought a single bodyguard with only one gun was enough. Sorel wasn't even holding a piece himself, which meant Jason could hit the guard first and then drop Sorel before he could draw. Jason supposed there could be more bodyguards and more guns in the limo, but his gut said the two had come alone. Sorel was both arrogant and stupid enough to underestimate Jason's lethality, and if he had been alone, Jason would have just taken them both out and been done with it.

But with Elizabeth there – well, risking her safety was simply unacceptable. Or at least, he wouldn't put her at risk any more than he already had just by having her with him. Plus he didn't want her to witness firsthand the violence that surrounded him. Which meant he had to find a way to get her out of here without pulling his gun. _This could get tricky._

At last, he spoke. "What do you want?"

"That's not very polite, Morgan. Where are your manners? Why don't you introduce me to your little friend?"

"What do you want?" Jason said again. He tried not to become distracted by Elizabeth, who had started to move slightly. He wondered what she was doing when he felt her small hand slip into his jacket pocket. Then she withdrew it and he heard the soft beep of his cell phone. He squeezed her arm, trying to stop her, but she ignored him and punched a few more buttons, so he quickly started talking to cover the sound. "I don't want any trouble here. Just tell me what you want and let's see what we can work out." Thank god Sorel was still standing more than 10 feet away, so he hadn't noticed anything amiss, not even when Jason heard Sonny's voice come on the line, asking what was up. Jason spoke a little louder, hoping Sonny would hear him and understand what was happening – and that Sorel wouldn't. "Listen, Sorel, you know we can't discuss business in front of an outsider, so I'm wondering what could be so important that you followed me all the way to Vista Pointe."

As soon as Jason began speaking, Sonny had gone silent on the phone. Watching Sorel's face darken with anger at having his stupidity pointed out to him, Jason really hoped Sonny had heard him and understood the situation. Sorel spoke menacingly. "I don't think you understand what's happening here, Morgan. I'm the one who decides what we do or don't talk about. And outsiders can be dealt with." Jason felt Elizabeth's hand on him again, this time at the small of his back. She was sliding his gun out of the waistband of his jeans, and then he felt its familiar weight in the hand she had pulled off her arm. The gun was still warm from being pressed to his body. It was fortunate Sorel hadn't even thought to demand that Jason show his hands.

Jason was careful not to let his expression betray anything as he considered her actions. On the one hand, it was comforting to know that help was probably on the way, and that his gun was ready to go, his finger already resting lightly on the trigger. On the other hand, this could escalate the situation significantly; things would probably spiral out of control very quickly if Sorel found out before Jason was ready. Elizabeth could get hurt.

_That's not happening, no matter what._

So Jason covered Elizabeth's movements by waving his free hand and saying to Sorel, "You might want to think about that a little more, before you do something that will draw a lot of unnecessary attention to our business. You know the cops basically leave us alone unless civilians get hurt."

Sorel's frown darkened, and Jason realized that even if Sonny was coming, or sending help, he wasn't going to be able to keep Sorel under control long enough. The man was simply too unstable to keep talking for the twenty minutes, minimum, that it would take help to arrive. Sorel's voice was rising. "I don't listen to you, Morgan. _You_ listen to _me_. I know my business and I don't need a punk like you telling me about anything. Now, I'm gonna give you a message for your boss, and then I'm gonna leave. And just to make sure things go smoothly during this time of transition, I'll be taking your little friend with me when I go. Now, send her over here."

"No." Jason's response was terse and definite. He could feel Elizabeth stiffen behind him, but with the gun in his hand, he had no way to reassure her without alerting Sorel.

"What do you mean, no? That wasn't a request, Morgan. It was a statement of fact. She's coming with us, the easy way or the hard way. It's up to you."

"No, she's not," Jason said again. With a smooth, lightning-fast movement, Jason's arm came up and he fired two shots in rapid succession. Both the bodyguard and Sorel dropped with successive thuds. Jason walked over and kicked the gun away from the bodyguard, glancing at the neat little holes in each man's forehead, at the shocked expression frozen on Sorel's heavy face. He thought idly that it was a good thing the guys were on the way. The sooner they got this mess cleaned up, the better.

He stood with his head bowed for a moment, steeling himself to face Elizabeth, knowing he had blown any chance he might have had with her now that she had seen the violence of his life up close. The thought made him want to kill Sorel all over again, this time slowly and painfully. Instead, very carefully, he wrapped the bottom of his shirt around the gun, wiping the barrel with it repeatedly for several moments, until he began to feel its heat slowly dissipate. He knew he was just delaying the inevitable moment when he would have to turn around and look at her while she destroyed his dreams, but he needed the time to get his roiling emotions under control. He wanted to punch something, to howl with frustration at the night sky -- or maybe just sit down and cry. But he did none of those; instead, without looking up or letting his expression change, he just kept rubbing the barrel of the gun.

Finally accepting that he owed her the chance to yell at him, he replaced the now-cool gun in his waistband at the small of his back, took a deep breath, and slowly turned to look at her. She was frozen in place and pale. He started to apologize, "Elizabeth, I'm sorry. God, I wish you hadn't seen that. I shouldn't have ever –"

But she cut him off. "Jason, stop." And then she launched herself into his arms, which came up reflexively to catch her and hold her tightly to him. "Don't ever apologize for saving my life." He breathed in the fresh scent of the wind in her hair, letting it mask the odors of gunpowder and death that he swore were always with him. He felt her body start to shake in reaction to the night's events. She said, "Jason? I feel kind of funny …" Her voice trailed off as her entire body went slack in his arms.

For a moment, he panicked, thinking she had been injured, after all, until he remembered that his two kill shots were the only ones fired. _She just fainted. She's in shock._ He quickly carried her to a nearby bench and laid her down gently. He stripped his jacket off and covered her with it. He had no idea how long he knelt next to her, stroking her hair with one hand, resting the other on her breastbone where he could feel the slow, steady beat of her heart, and watching the rhythmic rise and fall of her breath to reassure himself that she would really be okay. He just waited for her to wake up. He didn't hear Sonny yelling through the cell phone, which Elizabeth had dropped at some point. He didn't notice the breeze or the sights and sounds of nature around him. His entire focus remained on Elizabeth.

Until another car pulled up.

Hearing that, Jason jumped to his feet, once again pulling his gun to protect her from this new threat.


	7. Cleanup

_A/N: Thanks for your feedback, as always! I ran out of time and had to end this rather abruptly … hope you enjoy it! BTW, I'd be interested to hear what you think Sonny wants Jason to do, or what he wants to do for Jason …_

**FNF # 13: Clean-up**

**Prompt: he said he'd give me everything I'd need.**

A car door slammed, then a second, third, and fourth in rapid succession. Jason's heart beat a rapid tattoo until one of the men spoke. "Jason, what the hell happened? Who is that behind you?"

Jason sighed with relief, lowering the gun. When he spoke, though, he didn't answer Sonny's question. "We need to get this mess cleaned up." He gestured toward the two bodies.

Sonny nodded, turning to call over his shoulder, "Max, get a crew here." As Max pulled out his phone and made the call, Sonny asked Jason again, "What the hell happened?"

Jason shrugged and didn't answer. He turned and walked back to Elizabeth, who was starting to show signs of coming around. He knelt once again on the ground beside her, and resumed stroking her cheek. "We'll have to discuss it later. Right now, I have to get her out of here." He called to Max, "Have someone bring me a car. And someone'll have to drive my bike home for me." Max lifted a hand in acknowledgement, still speaking into the phone. Jason lowered his voice, leaning close to her ear, "Elizabeth! Elizabeth, come on, it's time to wake up now." She stirred and opened her eyes. He smiled gently, "Hi." She smiled back dazedly.

"Wha-" she started to ask.

Sonny's voice interrupted. "Jason, what were you doing up here, anyway? And you still didn't tell me who that is." Sonny was becoming agitated.

Jason glared at Sonny and said again, more forcefully, "_Not now_, Sonny." He turned back to Elizabeth, his face softening again as he saw she was moving to sit up. "No, just stay there for a minute, okay? You had a bad shock and you fainted." He saw the instant she remembered everything, saw the fear come into her eyes. He braced himself, but was still completely unprepared for her next words.

"Jason, are you all right? You didn't get hurt, did you? Oh, please tell me you're okay!" Before he could process that her fear was for _him_ instead of herself, she launched herself into his arms again, so hard that despite how small she was, he had to fight to keep from tumbling over backwards.

"I'm fine," he soothed, stroking a hand up and down her back, as he breathed in the almond scent of her hair. He wondered irrelevantly what kind of shampoo she used. "And so are you. But I think you've had enough excitement for one night. Let's get you home." He stood, lifting her with him, cradling her in his arms. He started to walk toward the car, ignoring the slack-jawed expression on Sonny's face as he told the other man, "I'm gonna take her in your car. The other one will be here soon, so you can take that one."

Elizabeth protested, "You don't have to carry me, Jason! I can walk!" He frowned at her. She was looking around, realizing how many men were suddenly present. "And why aren't we taking your bike? I don't _wanna_ take the car."

For the first time since Sorel had appeared, Jason had an urge to laugh at her petulant tone. He ignored the request to put her down, not wanting to admit in front of his men that he just wanted -- _needed_ -- to take care of her. "Elizabeth, you just fainted. You're in no condition to be riding a motorcycle."

"I'm fine, Jason. Put me down. You'll see."

He shook his head. "We can ride the bike another time." But he knew it wouldn't happen. As soon as the shock wore off, she would realize he wasn't safe and she would probably never talk to him again. He was aware that Sonny was trying to get his attention again. He gently placed her into the passenger seat of the car, kissed her forehead, and said, "Wait here a minute. I need to talk to Sonny. I'll be right back." She nodded and gave him one more squeeze before she let go so he could stand up.

She watched him walk over to Sonny. She couldn't hear what they said, but could tell from their body language that Sonny was upset. Initially, Jason looked calm, but then Sonny said something that he _really_ didn't like. She heard his next words clearly. "No, Sonny. No way in hell. I won't do it. No. Think of something else." Sonny continued arguing, while Jason kept shaking his head and refusing something that Sonny was adamantly in favor of. Finally, Jason just said, "Forget it, Sonny," one more time, and then turned away without giving Sonny a chance to respond. "Max!" he called, "I need the keys."

Max tossed him the keys, and Jason turned and smiled reassuringly at Elizabeth as he headed back toward the car, Sonny yapping at his heels like an overexcited puppy. She heard Sonny say, "If you won't take care of this, Jason, I will. I'm gonna do whatever it takes, whatever you need done, to keep you out of prison. So fix it, Jason."

Jason replied in a hard tone, "Don't do _anything_, Sonny, no matter what you think I need. I'll deal with this _my_ way. You just make sure the cleanup here is done right. I'll take care of the rest." Elizabeth, seeing the look on Jason's face, shuddered. She hoped that look would never be directed at her.

Jason got in the car and closed the door in Sonny's frustrated face. He turned to smile gently at Elizabeth, "You ready to go?"

"Y-yeah, sure," she smiled back tentatively. "Sonny seems really upset …" she ventured.

He put the car in gear and backed out, leaving Sonny gaping at him in shock. "He'll get over it. Right now, I'm concerned about you. Do you need to go to the hospital?" He pointed the car back toward the road, toward Port Charles.

He knew that any minute now, she would tell him to stay away from her, to keep the violence out of her life. But until she did, he was going to savor these last moments before he lost her forever. He reached out and covered her hand with his.

"No, I told you, I'm fine." She smiled, turning her hand over to twine her fingers with his. "I guess this was a pretty memorable first date, huh?" She laughed softly.

His eyes shot to hers at her light tone. _What does she mean, _**_first_**_ date? That almost sounds like she thinks there will be more …_He shrugged and turned back toward the road. "I guess."

"I can't wait to see what happens on our second date," she teased, trying to get him to relax. "Maybe I should be the one to plan it …" He shot her a surprised look, but didn't say anything, so she continued. "Can I ask you something?"

"What?"

"What is it Sonny wants you to do?"

He frowned. "Y-you don't have to worry about that."

She sighed, repeated her earlier observation. "He seemed really upset."

Jason changed the subject. "Y-you had a big shock tonight. I don't think you should be alone. Is there someone you can stay with?"

"I'll be fine by myself." She looked at him speculatively. "Why don't you tell me what Sonny thinks you need?"

He sounded irritated when he replied, "Because I _don't_ need it, so it's not important." He paused, then insisted, "I'm not leaving you alone tonight. Either I take you to stay with one of your friends, or you're stuck with me. Your choice."

She forced a mischievous smile to her lips, wanting to shout at him to _lighten up_, _already!_ "Then I guess I'm stuck with you, because I'm not just showing up on someone's doorstep when I'm perfectly fine. But just so you know, I don't put out on the first date." He raised a brow at her, but said nothing. She ignored him, continuing, "So if this was all some elaborate plot to get me to stay with you, it was a waste of time." When he frowned, but still didn't say anything, she changed tactics, trying again to get him to tell her what he was worrying about, "What is it that Sonny wants you to do?"

Apparently her teasing or her persistence or something was too much for him. She watched, fascinated, as the normally controlled man all but growled in frustration. "Has anyone ever told you you're a stubborn pain in the butt?" he demanded. "And what the _hell_ were you thinking back there?"

She frowned in confusion. "What?" Strangely, as angry as he suddenly was, she wasn't at all afraid - she knew instinctively that he would never hurt her.

"Do you have any idea what Sorel would have done if he had caught on to what you were doing?!" As he thought again about the risk she had taken, about how she had scared him when she fainted, about what Sonny now wanted him to do, the emotions of the night caught up to him, and he got mad.

But she didn't seem fazed. She said, "I knew you would protect me, and I wanted to help you. I'm not some helpless ninny, you know." She didn't see why he was so mad.

"You could have gotten yourself _killed_," he yelled, but he squeezed her hand tighter, and she realized his anger was a cover for his fear.

"But I'm fine, and so are you, so let's just drop it, okay?" She spoke in a soothing tone and squeezed his hand back. She covered their linked hands with her free hand, stroking the back of his hand in an attempt to calm him down. "Let's just talk about something else. Do you want to stay at my studio, or are we gonna go to your place? My studio is kind of small, and I usually sleep on the couch, which isn't really all that comfortable, and it would be kind of short for you, but if you want to avoid Sonny, he probably wouldn't look for you there …" she trailed off as she finally felt his hand relax.

He said, "I want you to be comfortable. You decide where we should go."

She said, "Well, either way, we'll need to go to the studio, so let's just wait till you see it and decide then." She paused. "Look, at the risk of making you mad again, whatever Sonny said is obviously bothering you, so why don't you just tell me what it is? Maybe I can help."

He groaned aloud. _How stubborn can one tiny slip of a girl be? _"You can't help. Just drop it."

"How do you know I can't help? Try me."

"I'm not involving you in this."

"I'm already involved."

He sighed heavily. "I know, but I don't want you any _more_ involved." She started to speak, but he squeezed her hand. He decided to tell her why Sonny was upset, but not what Sonny wanted to do about it. "Look, Sonny is just worried that I'm gonna go to prison for what happened back there. I won't, so stop worrying."

Elizabeth realized suddenly what Jason wasn't saying. "He's worried that I'll testify against you, isn't he? Oh my god! Jason, he wants you to eliminate me, doesn't he?"


	8. Fallout

_A/N: Sorry so late with this update … I hope you'll think it was worth the wait! As always, I loooovvvve feedback! Heehee!_

**Prompt:** **How lucky I am to have known someone who was so hard to say goodbye to.**

****

FNF #14: Fallout

_She thinks Sonny wants me to kill her?! _Jason was momentarily nonplussed. Still, he started to reply to Elizabeth's outrageous statement, "What?! N-" But she didn't let him finish.

"Oh, Jason, no wonder you're so upset! It's _completely_ unreasonable of Sonny to ask you to take me out just like that! I mean, obviously, we're friends if we were out there in the middle of nowhere together! How could he even _think_ that I would ever testify against you? You're my friend!" she repeated. "And so is Emily – she's my best friend, so even if you weren't my friend, which you are, of course, I could never do that to Emily!" Her outrage seemed to grow with each word, and Jason couldn't help feeling just the tiniest bit amused at how adamant she was.

And it was really kind of … well, _hot_, the way she got so passionate about it. Her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes were almost feverishly bright, and all Jason could think about was how badly he wanted to kiss her again. He shifted subtly, uncomfortably, in his seat, in a futile attempt to ease the growing evidence in his groin as to just _how_ hot he found her passion. He tried to focus on what she was saying, figuring she would have to take a breath at some point, and that was when he could set her straight.

But she just kept talking, "I mean, Jason, Sonny hardly even knows me! What gives him the right to decide that I'm not trustworthy? That I'm somehow dangerous to you? And how does he think you would ever be okay with killing your sister's best friend?! I won't let him put you in that position. Don't worry, Jason, we'll fix this without you having to kill me."

Jason squeezed her hand to try to get her to stop talking, so he could reassure her that Sonny hadn't actually asked him to kill her. "Elizabeth, stop!" But she was on a roll, and she didn't seem to hear him, or to notice his growing amusement.

"Jason, we have to find another way to convince Sonny that I'm not a threat to you! I mean, you saved my life! Of _course_ I wouldn't let you get arrested for saving my life! All we have to do is convince Sonny that I won't testify."

She finally paused for breath, and Jason tried once again, "Eliz-"

But she interrupted him again, saying triumphantly, "And I know just what to do to show Sonny he doesn't have to worry!" He turned to stare at her, and she met his eyes and nodded once, quite emphatically, before he tore his eyes away, looking back at the road.

Her certainty gave Jason pause, wiping out any amusement, and for that matter, arousal, replacing both with worry at what she might be planning. She couldn't possibly be thinking clearly, given the excitement of the evening. "W-what? Elizabeth, what exactly do you think you're gonna do?" He was surprised she let him get the sentence out.

"Not _me_, Jason, _we_." When he looked confused, she added, "_I'm_ not gonna convince Sonny by myself, silly!" Jason couldn't believe she had just called him _silly_. He knew without conceit that he was one of the most feared men on the east coast, and she called him _silly? _She continued, "I mean, he hardly knows me, so why would he trust me? Don't be ridiculous! No, Jason, I can't do it _myself_, so it's gonna have to be both of us. We're gonna convince Sonny together!"

Too curious now to tell her that she didn't have to convince Sonny of anything, Jason asked, "Well, how do you think _we're_ gonna do that?"

She gave him a look that clearly said she thought his brain wasn't working very well. She spoke slowly, enunciating each word as though he were either stupid or hard of hearing. "Well, _obviously_ we're gonna get married."

Jason stared at her, then jerked his gaze back to the road. He decided he'd better pull over for the rest of this discussion. As he brought the car to a stop, he turned to see her smiling expectantly at him. He burst out, "What do you mean, we're gonna get married?! Elizabeth, we're not –"

She interrupted again, "Just think, Jason, it'll be perfect! We'll get married and then I won't be able to testify even if I wanted to, which of course I don't, so Sonny won't have anything to worry about, and you won't get stuck in the middle between Sonny and me, and Emily won't have to worry about you or me –"

"Elizabeth, we're not getting married," Jason interrupted. "I'll just leave town for a while, and Sonny'll make it look like I left earlier this afternoon, and then I won't be a suspect –"

But Elizabeth was shaking her head. "That won't work, Jason. Or did you forget that Taggert heard us making our date?"

He frowned, displeased to realize she was right about that. Still, he shrugged and started to say, "So I canceled because I got called away," but she just shook her head again.

"It won't work. Who knows who saw us leaving Kelly's?" At his dark look, she rushed on, "Look, I know you don't want to marry me, but it really _is_ the simplest solution. We could go to Vegas tonight and make it look like we left right from Kelly's when you picked me up, and then you'd have both the alibi and that spousal whatever-it's-called thingy"

"Elizabeth, it's better if I just leave. That way, you won't get caught in the middle --" Jason began again, but she interrupted yet again.

"Look, if it's the idea of marrying me that's a problem, it could be in name only." She was looking at her lap now, gnawing on her lower lip nervously. "I mean, you wouldn't have to …" He noticed she was flushed bright red. "Well, um, we wouldn't have to _sleep_ together … or anything."

Jason shook his head almost violently. "Elizabeth, it's not that I –"

She continued as though he hadn't spoken. "Jason, would you really find it so easy to just leave? Not just me, but Emily, and Michael, and Carly, and even Sonny?" He heard the tears in her voice, and realized he had hurt her feelings. He cursed inwardly.

He reached out, gently touching her cheek, then sliding his fingers under her chin to turn her face toward him. She closed her eyes for a moment, tipped her head into his palm. He waited until she looked up and met his eyes, then said softly, urgently, "Elizabeth, _God_, isn't it obvious that I don't want to leave? I thought I was making it pretty obvious that I-- I like being with you. It'll be incredibly _difficult_ to go -- but I-I can't stay. I don't want you getting caught up in this, not anymore than you already are. Y-you shouldn't have that kind of violence in your life. It wasn't fair of me to – well, I should have stayed away from you in the first place. You deserve a happy, normal life, w-where you don't have to worry about getting hurt or witnessing … anything" He dropped his hand away, and turned to look out the window at the darkness. He finished softly, "I shouldn't be anywhere near someone like you."

"But Jason," she began again, whispering and looking down again, "It wouldn't have to be forever … just until things calm down. And you wouldn't have to sleep with me or anything," she repeated.

Realizing she had somehow failed to realize how desperately attracted to her he was, he turned back to look at her, ducking his head to capture her eyes again, willing her to understand and believe him. He said gently, "Sleeping with you is _not_ the issue, Elizabeth. _Marrying_ you isn't the issue. _Sonny_ isn't even the issue. If things were different, I would be _lucky_ to be married to you, to make love with you, to have you in my life in whatever way you wanted to be there." She looked at him skeptically, so he said, "I just – I don't want you to get hurt because of me. I-I couldn't live with that."

"But Sonny wants…"

He sighed softly. "Elizabeth, Sonny didn't ask me to kill you."

She digested that for several minutes. He watched her silently; he could almost see the thoughts racing through her head as she tried to make sense of his professed attraction to her, his reluctance to marry her, his argument with Sonny, and his insistence that Sonny hadn't asked him to kill her. He saw the moment when she reached a conclusion. Her resolve was firmly in place when she finally spoke. "If Sonny didn't ask you to kill me, then what did he ask?"

"It doesn't matter."

"It _does_ matter. Tell me." She looked at him, waiting. When he looked away again without answering, she spoke again, softly but firmly. "_He_ thinks you should marry me, too. Doesn't he?" Jason continued looking out the window and said nothing. "_Doesn't he_?" she persisted.

Deciding she wasn't going to drop it, he let out a frustrated breath and whispered, "Yeah."

She must not have heard him clearly, because she asked, "Yeah?"

"Yeah, okay? Yeah, he wants me to marry you. But –"

She interrupted again. "Well, then, you're outvoted. Let's go to the airport now, so no one sees us and ruins our alibi. We can get whatever we need in Vegas."

"Elizabeth," he started to protest further.

"Jason, drive to the airport," she insisted. He eyed her curiously as she pulled out her phone. "If you don't, I'll call Taggert right now and confess to killing those men myself."


	9. Kill the Monster While It's Little

_A/N: This one didn't go quite the way I anticipated, but here it is. As always, I love feedback!_

**Chapter 9: FNF #15: Kill the Monster While It's Little**

**Prompt: The prompt is a photo that can be viewed here (put h t t p : / / (without spaces) but not www in front of it):** i316./albums/mm346/linlawless/FNF15prompt.jpg

"Put that away," Jason huffed, pulling Elizabeth's cellphone from her hand and glancing at it to make sure she hadn't actually dialed. He dropped his hand to his lap, rubbed his forehead with his other hand briefly, then looked at her for a long moment. "No one would believe you killed anyone, you know."

"I can make them believe it," Elizabeth insisted, trying to grab her phone back. He held it away from her.

"Yeah? How are you gonna convince them that you were lucky enough to hit two people right in the center of the forehead? Have you ever even shot a gun before? And what's your motive?"

"I can be very convincing. I'll figure something out. Drive to the airport, Jason."

"Elizabeth, we can't just get married. We have to talk about this some more. Hopefully, no one will find the bodies anytime soon, and if they do, we'll deal with it then."

"Jason, we don't have _time_ to talk about this some more. We can't wait for this to become a big issue. We have a little problem right now, but it's only gonna get bigger if we wait until you actually need an alibi or until someone actually tries to make me testify. If we get married tonight, all our problems are solved."

"No, Elizabeth, they're not. How do we explain that we suddenly decided to get married? No one's ever even seen us dating."

"That's not true. Taggert saw us earlier today. Lucky saw us kissing last week."

"What about Emily? Your family?"

"I don't know, Jason, maybe we were keeping it secret or something. Sonny and the guards will certainly vouch for us. Emily probably would, too, if she knew what was at stake."

"I won't ask Emily to lie for me."

"Anyway, we can deal with all that later, if you would just –" she enunciated each word, as though he was hard of hearing or mentally challenged, "- _drive to the airport_."

"Elizabeth –" he sighed.

She sensed his wavering resolve and moved in for the kill. "Look, if it turns out not to be necessary, we can always get it annulled." He rubbed a hand over his forehead, then pinched the bridge of his nose.

"You're not gonna let this go, are you?" he asked finally.

"Well, of course not – it's the only way. Call Sonny and ask him if you don't believe me." She looked pointedly at her phone sitting in his lap.

"Fine. We'll go to Vegas and get married, and then in a couple of weeks, when it's clear there's no problem, big, little, or otherwise, we'll get it annulled."

"Fine."

Jason sighed again, picked up the phone, and called Sonny to make the arrangements.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

By the time the plane landed in Las Vegas, Elizabeth was a bundle of nerves. Jason had told her to get some sleep as soon as they took off, then spent the entire flight on the phone, talking so quietly that she couldn't hear what he was saying. She assumed that he had been making arrangements to cover their tracks.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth had been too keyed up to sleep, so she had spent the entire flight surreptitiously watching Jason on the phone. Whenever she closed her eyes, thoughts started chasing themselves around in her head, the chatter drowning out any chance of relaxing.

When she opened her eyes just a little, though, she could watch Jason, which helped her relax even though she knew he wasn't happy with the situation. She just felt so safe with him that she was convinced things would fall into place.

Finally, Jason came over and squatted in front of her, saying softly, "You can stop pretending to sleep now. We'll be landing in 10 minutes."

Elizabeth blushed at the realization he must have known she was watching him the whole time. "H-how did you know I was awake?"

"I just did."

"Are – are you still mad?"

He sighed, reaching out to touch her cheek. "I'm not mad. Not at you, anyway. I just – I hate this situation, and what it might do to you. I – I should have stayed away from you."

Even though she had thought as recently as that morning that she wanted him to stop pursuing her, she found herself saying, "Jason, I knew who you were when I agreed to go out with you. This is not your fault." She reached up to cover the hand that was gently stroking her cheek, leaning into it. "It's okay. This was my idea, not yours, and I'm fine with it, so please stop feeling guilty or whatever it is you're doing to yourself."

"But, Elizabeth, this is gonna get a lot more complicated than you seem to realize. You're gonna have to lie to everyone you know, everyone you love. Are you really prepared for that? And people who care about you aren't exactly gonna be pleased that you're hooked up with someone like me."

"I don't care about all that, Jason. You saved my life, and I want to do this for you in return. End of story."

He wanted to say again that her life wouldn't have been in danger in the first place, if not for him. Instead, he responded to her last statement. "But it's not, Elizabeth. Marriage is a complicated business in the best of circumstances, and these circumstances aren't even a little bit good. Do you realize we'll have to live together? To pretend to the world that we fell head over heels for each other and couldn't wait to be together long enough to inform our family and friends, let alone to put together a real wedding? You're talking like this is no big deal, but it _is_ a big deal -- it's a _very_ big deal."

"Jason, I'm not taking this as lightly as you seem to think. I've thought about everything you're talking about, and I keep coming back to, I'd rather marry you now than regret it later. I couldn't live with it if I was the reason you went to jail. We have this very small window of opportunity before this little potential problem, which is fixable right now, spirals out of control into a huge, evil genie that no one will ever be able to put back in the bottle. Now, stop arguing with me and put on your seatbelt for landing."

He sighed and helped her sit up. He said nothing more until they were both buckled in. Finally, he made one last attempt to persuade her that she hadn't thought this through. "Look, we're in Vegas, the flight plans are being altered to look like we left Port Charles at 8, and all the potential witnesses are on our payroll. Isn't it enough that I have an alibi? Do we have to get married?"

She didn't answer right away. He glanced at her and realized he had inadvertently hurt her feelings. He sighed. "That didn't come out right. I didn't mean that marriage to you would be awful. Under normal circumstances, I'm sure it would be great." He paused, smiling ruefully. "Look, about what you said earlier …"

She looked confused. "I said a lot of things earlier. Which one are you talking about?"

"About – well, about sleeping together – or not sleeping together."

She blushed prettily, "It's okay, Jason, we won't have to do anything like that …"

As hard as it was, he realized he had to be blunt. "That's just it, Elizabeth. You seem to think that not sleeping together will be easy. Maybe for you, it will. But for me … Look, I think I've been pretty clear in the last few days that I'm strongly attracted to you. Not that I would pressure you, or force you, or anything like that …"

"Don't be ridiculous, Jason, I know you would never force me. And I would never force you."

He almost laughed at the idea that she could force him, but the idea that she would have to was even funnier to him. "You wouldn't have to, but that's not the point." He paused as he felt the plane touch down. He decided not to mention his fear that he would get irritable with her when he wanted her but couldn't have her. He also decided not to bring up his fear that she would mistake the forced intimacy of living together for falling in love, and later regret being tied to him if it all fell apart later. He settled on the most innocuous of the problems facing them. "Elizabeth, married people have sex, and it's hard to fake that kind of intimacy. Even when you're living with someone and pretending for all the world that you're in love."

"Well, then, maybe we shouldn't pretend we're having sex. Maybe we should just go ahead and do it. We could behave like this is a normal wedding, and just have a wedding night like all the other newlyweds in Vegas. Actually, that's probably better, anyway. It's just gonna turn into this big thing if we don't get it out of the way."

"Elizabeth, that's not what I meant. I don't want to just 'get it out of the way.' I don't want us to make love unless we both want to, just for us."

"Who says I don't want to, just for us? In case you hadn't noticed, I kissed you first."

"Yeah, to prove a point to Lucky," he observed dryly.

"Well, I didn't have to prove my point with _you_. I could've found someone else. Maybe I just wanted an excuse to kiss you."

"Elizabeth, you're rewriting history." Jason sounded exasperated. "After you kissed me, you spent days avoiding me. That doesn't exactly scream 'I want you.'"

She blushed yet again, but her voice was annoyed rather than embarrassed when she answered. "Well, maybe I was just a little overwhelmed. You never even looked at me before, and suddenly you're in hot pursuit. Excuse me for having a little trouble shifting gears." The plane taxied to a stop, and she added, "You're worrying too much. Let's just go do this. We can deal with the rest of it later."

He answered tersely, "Fine. If you're sure you want to do this, let's go."

"Fine, let's go then. And try to sound happier about it before you give me a complex."

Jason took a deep breath and put his misgivings aside. He forced a smile to his face and held out a hand to her. When she placed her hand in his, he led her off the plane to the limo that Sonny had arranged to meet them.


	10. The Lap of Luxury

**FNF #16: The Lap of Luxury**

**Prompt: Always have a backup plan.**

Elizabeth stood in the doorway looking around the small, pretty chapel. The room seemed out of place for Vegas – it was decorated with conservative good taste. The walls were painted a soft, warm cream color, which contrasted beautifully with the deep mahogany of the wooden pews. There was an upright piano against the wall to the left as she faced the altar. Fresh flowers were everywhere, bouquets of white roses and calla lilies and baby's breath. Candles glowed from a multitude of places throughout the room. At the end of the aisle, Jason fidgeted, looking uncomfortable, but as handsome as she had ever seen him, in his new dark suit.

She had never been to a Las Vegas wedding before, so her expectation had been that they would wind up being married in a tacky ceremony by one of the many Elvis impersonators that Vegas was famous for. She had fully anticipated that they would go straight from the airport to the Hound Dog Chapel or some equally ridiculous place, and get married in the clothes they arrived in, and it would make for a story they would laugh about in years to come. She couldn't have been more wrong.

When she had watched Jason on the plane, talking quietly on his phone, she had assumed he was covering their tracks … arranging for the fixing of flight plans and witnesses to confirm the story they had agreed on. And maybe he had done that, as well, but when they had pulled up in front of the Bellagio, and he had whisked her in and checked them into a luxurious suite he had reserved, she had realized he had been busy with more than just dealing with their evidentiary needs. He had somehow ensured that their wedding would be romantic and special, and she knew he had done it for her. It just wasn't the kind of thing he would care about for himself.

It hadn't ended with the beautiful suite, or even the pretty chapel, either. The moment the door had closed behind them in the suite, he had suggested she take a relaxing bubble bath while they waited.

"For what?" she had asked.

"For your surprise."

"What surprise?"

He had smiled mysteriously and said only, "If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise, would it?"

No matter how much she had teased and cajoled, he had remained tight-lipped. Finally, she had given up and gone to take the bath he had suggested. It had been heavenly. The lavender and vanilla scent of the bubble bath provided by the hotel had indeed helped her relax, and even now, hours later, she could still smell the faint perfume on her now-silky skin.

When she had come out of the tub half an hour later, she had luxuriated in softness of the big fluffy towels, then tried on one of the decadently thick bathrobes. It had been too big on her petite frame, but she had rolled up the sleeves and wrapped it around herself and tied it tightly anyway.

When she had re-entered the suite, she found a note from Jason taped to the mirror. _Gone to take care of a few things … call the concierge when you get out of the tub and he will send up your surprise. See you soon, Jason._

He had left? She had been surprised by that, and a little disappointed because she had thought he would give her the surprise himself. Nevertheless, she decided to humor him, so she picked up the phone and dialed the number it indicated for the concierge. He picked up immediately and before she could even identify herself, he said jovially, "Miss Webber, I presume?"

Startled, she managed, "Y-yes?"

"Mr. Morgan has arranged a lovely surprise for you. I'll send some people with it immediately. He said to tell you that you should take your time and choose whatever you like best. He was most insistent that you are not to consider the cost of anything, so to assist you with that, the staff have been instructed not to divulge that information to you. And may I say, Miss Webber, that the entire staff wishes you a long and happy life with your groom. It's obvious that he adores you, so I'm sure you will have a wonderful life together."

When he finally paused for breath, she said, "Th-thank you …"

"Please enjoy your stay at the Bellagio, Miss Webber, and please call me – Andrew -- immediately if there is anything I can do to assist you in any way."

"Th-thank you, I will." She hung up and stood still for a moment, trying to make sense of what the man had said to her. There was a knock at the door, and she went to answer it, wondering how the people had gotten there so quickly. She stood back, bemused, and watched as a veritable army of people entered the room, rolling racks and racks of clothing and carrying boxes of God-knew-what with them. When the last person had entered, the suite that had previously seemed large suddenly seemed rather crowded.

"Miss Webber?" The person who was apparently in charge approached. "Hello, Miss Webber, my name is Debra, and we have a lot to do before your wedding. Your fiancé has taken care of everything. Now, why don't you just sit over here for now," the woman gestured toward a comfortable-looking armchair. "and we'll start with some choices for your wedding dress."

"Call me Elizabeth," she murmured absently, and obediently sank down into the chair. The next hour was a flurry of activity, with people actually modeling dresses for her. She selected five dresses that she liked and tried them on herself. The people from the boutique had also brought a huge assortment of accessories, including jewelry and shoes and veils and lingerie. She couldn't help feeling that the whole experience was surreal and a little overwhelming, but she couldn't deny that it was fun.

She eventually settled on a soft white silk sheath. Its cut was deceptively simple, flowing and draping in a flattering seamless line all the way from the spaghetti straps to its tea length hem. It was embroidered very subtly with small flowers done in the same color thread as the dress. She chose matching shoes with four inch heels, which weren't entirely comfortable but which looked fabulous with the dress.

She thought the jewelry was too much. She had argued with the jeweler, who had insisted that her fiancé had wanted her to have it. But she was adamant, until he said, "Well, you're going to need something borrowed anyway, so how about we just loan you what you want for the wedding and then you can return it afterward?" She had smiled with relief and agreed to that, and had selected a simple strand of pearls with a diamond clasp and matching pearl and diamond stud earrings.

And then there was the lingerie. In addition to the lacy white undergarments and the blue garter that would go under her dress, she decided that she would splurge on a beautiful midnight blue negligee and peignoir set that somehow made her eyes look luminous.

She had to admit, she was really hoping that after the wedding, Jason wouldn't balk at making love. The more she thought about it, the more sense it made to her to just do it right away. She realized he had been right when he said that people who were sleeping together had an air of intimacy about them that would be hard to fake. In addition, he had said he was strongly attracted to her, and his behavior recently made her believe him. She had also finally admitted to herself the depth of her attraction to him, so all in all, she saw no reason to wait to make love. And she was really hoping he had gotten his protests out of his system on the plane.

But just in case he went all noble on her again, she figured her new midnight-blue lingerie made a hell of a great backup plan. If he balked, she would put it on and seduce him. At least, she hoped it would be that simple.

Once the lingerie was selected, the only thing left to do was let the hairdresser, manicurist, and makeup artist have their way with her. By the time they were done, her hair was swept up in a loose pile of cascading curls, with just a single rose adorning it near the crown of her head, and she felt petted and pampered beyond belief. Her fingers sported a simple French manicure, and her toes, hidden inside her new shoes for now, were painted fire engine red.

Finally, they were done. As the hairdresser left, he turned back and said, "Your limo will be ready downstairs in about ten minutes. The wedding is scheduled for midnight, which is very romantic if you ask me. Perhaps you want to take a moment to yourself?"

"Yes, I think I do." She smiled at him before he shut the door. She sat for a moment, thinking with awe about all Jason had done to make this day special for her, and she wanted to give him that same feeling. But it had to be perfect. She absently slipped her foot out of her shoe and toyed with it, admiring her pedicure, as well as the delicate ankle bracelet she had been wearing on her date. She had decided that would just have to do for "something old," since nothing else matched her outfit and she had had it for years. Thinking of their date, the perfect gift for Jason popped into her head, and she hurried over to the phone and called the concierge.

"Yes, Miss Webber? How can I help you? I hope your surprise was satisfactory."

She smiled and replied, "Everything was perfect. But I need your help to do something for my fiancé."

"Whatever you need, Miss Webber."

"Great. I need this for tomorrow afternoon." She quickly explained what she wanted, and when she hung up, she headed downstairs to find the limo.

Now, standing in the doorway of the chapel, she watched her groom fidget for a moment. He stilled suddenly, and looked up at her. His eyes met hers, and she felt herself relax. _This is how it's meant to be … just Jason and me, here together …_ She tore her eyes away from his and nodded to the pianist. As the first strains of music filled the chapel, she returned her gaze to Jason.

She kept her gaze locked with his as she glided down the aisle to join him.


	11. A Night to Remember

_A/N: Ok, so I confess, I went waaaaaaaay over the time parameters on this one (like, close to double) ... I think we all would have felt very ... um ... __**unfulfilled?** ... had I stopped at the one hour mark! I hope to have another chapter posted in the next day or two ... enjoy!_

And remember, I live for feedback!

**FNF #17: A Night to Remember (NC-17)**

**Prompt: No sense postponing the inevitable.**

The wedding was a blur to Elizabeth. She was vaguely aware of the minister's soothing voice, and later, she realized she and Jason must have spoken, too – otherwise, how could the minister have declared them married?

But the only clear memories she had were sensory ones: the soft scent of the roses and lilies in the chapel mixed with the lavender and vanilla scent that lingered from her bath; the vivid blue of Jason's eyes and the unnamed emotion she saw there that kept her gaze locked with his; the soft clicking sound of the camera memorializing the event; the rough feel of his callused hands in hers; the coolness of the platinum and diamond ring that he slid onto her finger; the softness of his lips against hers as they kissed for the first time as husband and wife; the rapid beat of her own heart; and the urge to just melt into him.

Now, they were on their way back to the hotel. Elizabeth felt she was still caught up in the romantic spell she had fallen into from the moment she had sunk into her bubble bath hours earlier. The silence in the limo stretched between them, both of them looking straight ahead, but she thought that surprisingly, it wasn't uncomfortable. She supposed that was because, from the moment they had placed the rings on each other's fingers until now, Jason had let go of her hand only once, and only for long enough to allow them to sign the marriage certificate. Even now, his hand clasped hers solidly, his thumb rubbing soothing circles on the back of her hand. Elizabeth realized with a small measure of surprise that she had never felt quite so safe, or so peaceful, as she did riding in the silent limo with her hand in Jason's.

The limo pulled up in front of the hotel, and the driver came around to open the door. Jason looked at her briefly, giving her a half-smile and then kissing her hand. He turned and climbed out of the limo, then assisted her, still keeping his firm grip on her hand. When she stood next to him on the sidewalk, he shifted her hand from his left hand to his right, and slid his left arm around her waist. He leaned down and whispered very softly into her ear, "Are you hungry? Do you want to get something to eat?"

She smiled and shook her head. "Let's just go upstairs, okay?"

He smiled back and walked with her to the elevators.

XXXXXXXXXX

Jason was having a hard time wrapping his mind around the events of the evening. From the moment Elizabeth had appeared at the back of the chapel, he had been completely enraptured with her. He had always known she was beautiful – that had been his first impression of her way back when Emily had introduced them. But tonight, she was glowing, like she was lit from within. He hoped she had enjoyed her surprise. Even though their marriage had been necessary because of the mess with Sorel, he wanted their wedding to be special for her. He wanted her to feel how much she mattered to him.

Now, as they stepped off the elevator and walked toward their suite, he kept her right hand clasped in his and his left hand at the curve of her waist. He told himself it was because she was wearing precariously high heels and he didn't want her to stumble and hurt herself, but he knew deep down it was really more about his need to be touching her.

He finally released her hand to retrieve the key card from his pocket and let them into the suite, holding the door for her as he guided her ahead of him into the room. As the door clicked behind them, she turned to look up at him. "What now?" she asked softly.

He didn't answer right away, not sure what to say. He was torn between wanting desperately to kiss her, to make love to her, and wanting to protect her, even from himself. As much as he wanted her, a small voice in his head wouldn't be silenced; it whispered, _she deserves better than this, better than you._

She sighed and turned away when he didn't answer. She moved across the room, breaking their physical contact completely for the first time since they had left the chapel. He felt the loss acutely, wanted to call her back, but he couldn't get his mouth to form the words.

She disappeared into the bedroom. After a moment, he shook himself out of his stupor, and moved into the suite's living room. He removed his tie with relief as he walked across to the sofa. He sat, noticing for the first time that the hotel had left a bottle of champagne chilling in a bucket of ice, along with a large basket of fresh fruit. He absently pulled out the card, which said simply, "Congratulations and best wishes on your marriage from the entire Bellagio staff." He lifted his head, intending to call to Elizabeth to see if she wanted some champagne and fruit, but the words died in his throat as he caught sight of her in the bedroom doorway.

She had changed into some silk and lace confection that even from across the room made her eyes glow deep blue. He realized suddenly that, regardless of his own misgivings, she would be deeply hurt if he kept pushing her away, and anyway, who was he kidding? He could no more push her away than he could stop breathing. The little voice in his head whispered that he was rationalizing because he wanted her so badly, but he ignored that and focused on Elizabeth, keeping his eyes locked with hers.

He stood and walked slowly toward her, dropping his jacket on a chair as he passed it. He began to slip the buttons of his shirt from their holes as he got closer and closer to his bride.

XXXXXXXX

Elizabeth watched Jason approach her, still half afraid that he would turn her away. When he finally stood in front of her, so close they were almost touching, his shirt now hanging open, he reached a hand up to her cheek and whispered, "I need you to be sure about this, Elizabeth."

"I'm sure, Jason," she whispered back, her eyes locked with his, pleading with him to believe her as she nuzzled her cheek into his hand. "Please …"

Whatever else she might have said was lost as his mouth met hers. He kissed her again and again, his lips warm against hers, soft, lingering, sweet kisses that Elizabeth felt all the way down to her toes. A fire began to burn within her, and she became aware of her growing impatience. She slid her hands up his chest, hesitantly at first, but then she wasn't sure her legs would support her anymore, so she locked her hands at the back of his neck and pulled herself closer to him. He responded immediately, sliding his hands down her back and pulling her closer still.

Gradually, their kisses became more demanding, and he began walking her backward into the bedroom. He moved his hands up to her shoulders and down her arms, and she felt the peignoir slide off into a heap on the floor at the foot of the bed. "God, you're beautiful," he whispered against her lips between kisses.

She could feel his heart racing, and the length of his arousal pressed against her belly. She tore her lips away from his to respond breathlessly, "You make me feel beautiful." He kissed her again, with growing insistence, his tongue sliding into her mouth, tasting her, and she could feel her own urgency growing as liquid pooled at the juncture of her thighs. She was so lost in the sensations of kissing him that she barely registered his hands sliding the negligee up until he grabbed the hem and yanked it off over her head. She lifted her arms to allow him to free her from it completely.

He stepped back and his eyes swept over her naked form. She blushed but made no move to cover herself because the desire in his eyes intensified as he gazed at her. He started to pull her close again, but she shook her head and whispered, "One of us is wearing too many clothes."

He smiled and leaned forward to kiss her even as his hands made quick work of removing every stitch he had on. When he was naked, he stepped into the kiss, pulling her against him, and she sighed at the sheer pleasure of feeling his skin against hers. He lifted her onto the bed behind her, coming down on top of her, but careful not to crush her with his weight. She wrapped her arms and legs around him, trying to get closer still. He tore his lips from hers and blazed a trail of kisses across her cheek and down the column of her neck. "Jason, please," she whispered urgently, arching against him.

"Not yet," he whispered, continuing to nibble on the skin of her shoulder and collarbone. She moaned with pleasure and frustration, and he finally reached her right breast with his lips, even as his hand slid to her left one. He played with her breasts with his lips and hands until she was panting with the pleasure of it. She moaned when he left them behind, tried to pull him up to her mouth, but he resisted, trailing wet kisses down her stomach instead.

He finally reached his goal, sliding his tongue along her slit, making her hips shoot off the bed at the intense sensation when he touched her clit with his tongue. He spent what seemed like forever working her with his mouth and tongue, sucking at her clit, driving into her with his tongue, spiraling the pleasure higher, then backing off, only to come back and drive her higher still. Finally, when she was sobbing incoherently at the intense pleasure, he simultaneously sucked on her clit with his mouth while he drove a finger inside her, and she came apart in his arms, screaming his name. He stayed where he was, watching her as the last of the orgasm drained away, savoring the contractions around the finger he still had inside her.

Finally, he whispered a single word, "Beautiful," before crawling up her body to kiss her mouth again. She tasted herself on his lips and thought it was the most erotic thing she had ever experienced. She was amazed at how quickly her arousal built again, and she wrapped her legs around him. "Jason, I need you," she whispered. "Now. Please."

This time he didn't deny her. He kissed her again, keeping his eyes open and locked with hers, as he guided himself to her opening and slowly, so slowly she thought she would die of anticipation, pushed inside of her. When he was at last fully seated inside, he paused to let her adjust. "Okay?" he whispered after a moment. She nodded, her hips beginning to twitch with the urge to move. He slowly withdrew almost all the way, and then thrust into her again. She moaned with pleasure, her eyes glazing over with passion. He thrust again, and she moved with him. They gradually increased the speed until he was hammering into her and she was again sobbing with pleasure. He reached down and began stroking her with his finger, and the pleasure overtook her again, only this time she felt him come with her, shouting her name in a hoarse cry as he collapsed on top of her.

Moments later, he started to pull away, but she tightened her arms and legs around him. She whispered, "No, don't go yet."

"I'm crushing you," he whispered back.

She smiled languidly against his shoulder, "But in a good way," she insisted.

She felt his body shake as he chuckled, and he kissed her ear. He said, "How about I just roll over so you're on top? Then you can crush me."

She giggled and said, "Okay, I can live with that."

He rolled them over awkwardly, reaching to pull the blankets over her so she wouldn't get cold. He ran his hands up and down her back in soothing strokes, and Elizabeth was surprised to discover that she was starting to feel her arousal build again. She sat up abruptly, straddling him, her hands on his chest with his cock still partway inside her. He opened his eyes and asked, "What's up?" He took in the flush on her cheeks, and the way her pupils dilated, and the sight of her naked breasts jiggling slightly from her abrupt movement, and he felt his body begin to stir back to life inside her even as she said, "Don't start something you aren't ready to finish."

He smiled sensually at her, sliding his hands to her hips. He whispered, "Who says I'm not ready to finish?" and he lifted her partway off him, then thrust his hips upward as he pulled her back down onto his now-hard cock. She moaned and began eagerly matching his movements again.

It was a long time later before they slept.


	12. Surprise and Delight

_A/N: I admit it, I was pretty lax with the time on this chapter, too, because once again I ran out of time at a place where it would be impossible to just stop. But I was only a few minutes over this time, so please forgive me…_

**Chapter 12: FNF #18: Surprise and Delight**

**Prompt:** "**You are the strength that keeps me walking. You are the hope that keeps me trusting."**

Elizabeth came slowly awake, stretching languidly as she registered her surroundings. She was wrapped securely in her new husband's arms, with his body spooned around her, and she felt like she was safe in her own little cocoon. Her body ached in unfamiliar places, reminding her of muscles she had forgotten – or perhaps had never known -- she had. She tried to stretch carefully, so as not to wake him, but realized that idea had been doomed from the start when he whispered, "Good morning," and began nibbling on her earlobe.

Considering how many times they had made love last night, she was surprised to feel her body start to respond, and she had just started to sigh into him when she caught sight of the clock out of the corner of her eye. 11:18.

"Ohmigod," she yelped, jumping out of bed without giving a thought to her state of total undress.

"What?" he asked, startled by the sudden movement. "What's the matter? Are you okay?" He sat halfway up in bed. She realized suddenly that she was nude and grabbed the negligee from the floor by the bed, shoving her arms into it and wrapping it around her. She glanced back at him, and the heat in his eyes reminded her that the garment was designed to entice rather than conceal. She blushed as she thought irrelevantly that his hand had initially seemed to be searching for his gun, but then he had apparently realized there was no actual threat. He flopped back on the bed, but his eyes never left her.

"We have to get dressed!" She turned and raced toward the bathroom. She looked back at him just before closing the door. "Well, don't just lie there, Jason, get up! Otherwise you'll miss your surprise."

"What?" he called after her. "What surprise?" He heard the shower turn on and realized she probably couldn't hear him. Sighing, he got out of bed, muttering, "I hate surprises." A thought occurred to him, and a wicked grin slashed across his face as he decided to surprise his wife first.

He walked naked across to the bathroom and let himself in. "What surprise, Elizabeth?"

She peeked out from behind the shower curtain, and responded with the same words he had given her last night, "If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise, now would it?"

He sighed. "And there's some time limit on this surprise?"

"I told Andrew downstairs that I wanted it to be ready at noon, so yes," she responded pertly.

He stepped toward the shower, then climbed in with her, grinning at her when she gasped. He murmured against her lips, "Don't you know we're in the desert? We have to conserve water." He kissed her once, then again. "Besides, who needs forty whole minutes to get ready for a surprise?" When she looked ready to protest, he kissed her again, this time not stopping until he felt her melt against him.

By the time they finished showering, the water was running cold and they only had ten minutes to get ready to go.

She glared at him and muttered under her breath as she threw on a red tank top and a pair of khaki shorts. He smiled back at her as he pulled on his standard blue jeans and a gray t-shirt. He doubted she was really all that mad, since only moments ago, she had been clinging to him and moaning with pleasure.

"Won't you be hot in that?" she asked, as she rapidly braided her wet hair and fastened it with an elastic covered in bright red fabric.

"No, I'll be fine."

"Okay," she said skeptically, slathering sunscreen all over every inch of exposed skin. Jason just watched her, his eyes growing dark with banked desire, barely hearing her as she added, "But don't complain to me if you regret wearing all that heavy stuff." She walked past him to put the lotion away.

He grabbed her and pulled her down onto his lap, kissing her soundly. He took the lotion from her unresisting hands and said, "I think you missed a spot." He applied the sunscreen to the back of her neck and her upper back, then kissed her again. After a moment, he lifted his head and asked, "Are you sure we have to go now?"

She blushed and nodded. "You're gonna love it, Jason, I promise. Now let's go." She kissed him and tried to stand, but he held her in place and kissed her again.

He'd have been perfectly happy to call room service and stay locked in their room for a week at least, but she looked so cute, brimming with barely contained excitement, that he didn't have the heart to tell her that. He settled for one more kiss, then asked, "So, I guess we're gonna be outside, huh?"

She said, "Yes, but the only reason I'm telling you that is because you should put on some sunscreen." She hopped off his lap and tugged him to his feet. "Hurry up, we're already late." She quickly grabbed the sunscreen and rubbed some into his arms while he put some on his face, just to please her, since he didn't really burn anyway. He tried to kiss her again, but she danced away, telling him, "Come _on_, Jason, we have to go." He grabbed a couple of apples from the fruit basket because he wasn't sure when they'd be eating, and reluctantly followed her from the room, pulling the door shut behind him as she grabbed his hand and tugged him down to the elevator.

Moments later, Elizabeth dragged him over to the concierge. "Hi, I'm Elizabeth Web – I mean, Morgan. Andrew said he would make arrangements for me and my husband?"

"Oh, yes, Mrs. Morgan," the man said, smiling at her obvious excitement. "Everything is waiting right out front." He handed her a set of keys and a piece of paper, widening his smile to encompass Jason as well. "They're expecting you at the next stop at two-thirty. Enjoy your afternoon."

Jason was now curious about what his bride had arranged. They walked outside and he stopped short when he saw the sleek Porsche Carrera convertible parked at the curb. "Wow," he breathed. "I wonder who owns that beauty." He was surprised that the owner had left the top down while it was parked. He was stunned when Elizabeth pressed a button and the lights flashed. "You got me a Porsche?"

"Don't get too excited, it's just a rental," she laughed. "I wouldn't just buy one without your input, you know. I was gonna get a motorcycle, but you can't get GPS with that and I wanted to make sure we don't get lost. This is only part one of your surprise, you know." She laughed with delight at his slackjawed expression. "So, do you like it?" He hauled her up against him and kissed her passionately. When he lifted his head several minutes later, she grinned and said, "I'll take that as a yes."

He still seemed speechless, so she handed him the keys and said, "I hear there are some great roads for going fast around here, so let's go!"

She headed for the passenger side and climbed in, while he hurried around to the driver's side. He took a moment to adjust the seats and mirrors, then turned to her and asked, "Seat belt on?" Seeing that it was, he quickly snapped his in place, then sighed with pleasure as he turned the key and the engine purred to life. Glancing around, he eased away from the curb, barely resisting the urge to peel out. The moment they hit some open roads, he accelerated rapidly until they were flying along.

They drove for miles, heading deep into the desert, speeding around curves and along straightaways. The wind whipped Elizabeth's hair loose from its braid, but she didn't seem to care. She just laughed and screamed with delight, urging him, "Faster, Jason, let's go faster!"

An hour into the drive, they were near the Hoover Dam, and Elizabeth motioned for Jason to stop at a rest area. As soon as he came to a stop, she went to the trunk and pulled out the picnic lunch the hotel had prepared. It was packed in dry ice, so the sandwiches were fresh and the beverages cold. She said, "I hope soda and water are okay. I would've gotten you beer, but you need to go non-alcoholic in order for us to do the next thing on our agenda."

He leaned over and kissed her. "This is perfect, Elizabeth. I don't even need the next stop. This is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me."

She smiled, looking pleased with his compliment, and said, "Don't say that until you see the next thing, Jason. It's even better." She grew serious. "I wanted to do something as special for you as what you did for me yesterday. Our wedding could have been a nightmare, with everything that happened, but you made it perfect and beautiful and a dream come true. I thought I would be nervous and worried, but when I saw you standing there waiting for me, I just – I knew it was right, somehow. And I want you to know how much that means to me."

He kissed her tenderly. "You deserved a perfect wedding, Elizabeth. You deserve better than me for your groom." At her protest, he locked his eyes on hers, put a finger to her lips, and said, "Let me finish. I'm not very good with words, but I need to say this. You _do_ deserve better than me, better than the life I can give you. But the thing is, what you just said about it being right? I felt it, too." He paused, gathering his thoughts. "I was a wreck standing there in the chapel waiting for you, but as soon as you were there, I was fine. It felt right, and I just suddenly knew it would work out okay. And that was the first time in a really long time that I felt like I could trust that things would work out, that I could hope to be even a little bit happy. And I promise that I'm never gonna forget how lucky I am to have you here with me." Elizabeth smiled tremulously and swiped self-consciously at her eyes when he stopped talking, then she leaned forward, put her hands on either side of his head, and drew him down for another kiss.

Eventually, the need for food won out over their desire to just keep kissing and touching each other, and they ate sandwiches and the apples Jason had grabbed. They still paused frequently, however, to giggle and make out like teenagers. After 45 minutes, Elizabeth reluctantly began packing things away. She said, "We need to get going, or we'll be late. And trust me, you don't wanna miss this." He tried to cajole her into telling him where they were going, but all she would give him was the address, which she plugged into the GPS. They had 45 minutes to drive to a location nearly 70 miles away, which wouldn't be a problem in the Porsche.

They once again sped along the country roads, and right on time, he pulled the car to a stop at the address she had indicated. It was a small airfield in the middle of nowhere. As they climbed out of the car, a man came out of the hangar. "Mr. and Mrs. Morgan?" he asked.

"Yes," Elizabeth replied. "Is everything set?"

"Yes, ma'am," he turned and gestured for them to follow him. "Come along with me and we'll give you that lesson before we go on up. We haven't had an accident here in the 25 years we've been in business, and we're gonna teach you both the proper techniques so we can be sure we don't blow that record today." As they walked into a large warehouse, Jason saw the equipment and harnesses lying around the room, along with a big mat that was several feet thick.

He was stunned and thrilled to realize Elizabeth had arranged for them to go skydiving.

He suddenly realized he had been more correct than he had even known when he had told Elizabeth their marriage felt right. Somehow, despite every bad thing he had ever done, and despite the fact that he knew he didn't deserve it, he had stumbled into a marriage with the one woman in the whole world who was perfect for him.

He pulled her to his side and whispered for her ears only, "You are, without a doubt, the best thing that ever happened to me." He captured her lips for a brief but nevertheless heated kiss.

When he pulled back and smiled at her, she blushed and smiled back, whispering, "Funny, I was just thinking the same thing about you."


	13. Homecoming

_A/N: So, it's been months since I last updated this ... I'm like 10 prompts behind. But thanks to everyone who kept nudging me (gently but persistently) to get back to writing it. Happy New Year, and happy reading!_

**FNF #19: Homecoming**

**Prompt: Strength lies not in the mightiest, but in the most deserving of people**

"REGINALD!!" Elizabeth jumped slightly as she heard Edward Quartermaine's bellow, despite the closed door that separated her and Jason from him. They had come straight here from the airport when their plane had landed an hour ago, and she was nervous about how Emily would react to their news.

Jason squeezed her hand and said, "We don't have to do this now if you'd rather wait."

She smiled up at him. "It's fine. I don't want Emily to hear about it from anyone else. Let's just see if she's here, and if not, we can just leave." As an afterthought, she said, "Although maybe we should tell Lila anyway. You probably don't want _her_ to hear it from anyone else, either."

He smiled back, but returned to a neutral expression immediately when the door was opened by a grumbling Edward, "– don't know what I pay him for when he can't –" Edward broke off, glaring at Jason. "What do you want?" He didn't acknowledge Elizabeth, and she wondered if he even saw her. Jason was his entire focus.

"Is Emily here?" Jason asked tersely.

"Why should I let you see her?" Edward demanded. "I don't want my granddaughter hanging around with hoodlums."

"Is she here or not?" Jason asked testily. Elizabeth squeezed his hand and stepped forward.

"Mr. Quartermaine," she said quietly, "We really need to see Emily, so I'd really be grateful if you would let her know we're here. Or, if she's not here, we also need to see Lila, if she's available."

"Elizabeth," Edward replied gruffly, "I didn't see you there. Does your grandmother know you're hanging around with this criminal?"

Elizabeth felt Jason tense, so she squeezed his hand and said, "Mr. Quartermaine, I really need to talk to Emily." She smiled charmingly at him. "And I know your intentions are good, but do you think Emily or Lila would thank you for keeping us standing on the porch?"

Before he could respond, Lila's voice called from the living room, "Edward, dear, who's at the door?" She wheeled into the entryway and looked past him. "Oh, Jason and Elizabeth, how lovely! Come in, my dears. Edward, what are you thinking, keeping them standing outside?"

Edward answered evasively, "Lila, dear, I thought you were reading. I was just about to explain that Emily isn't home. She's out with that awful Cassadine again."

"Edward, move aside and let them in. I haven't seen either of them in more than a week, and they have graciously stopped by to visit." She said to Jason, "Emily went to meet Nikolas to go riding, but that was hours ago. She should be back any time, if you'd like to visit with me while you wait."

Elizabeth smiled at Edward, squeezed Jason's hand again, and stepped into the foyer, pulling him behind her. "Oh, Lila, thank you. That would be wonderful. We have so much to tell you!"

Edward grumbled something unintelligible under his breath and shut the door behind them. Lila said, "Ignore him, dears. Come in and make yourselves comfortable. Edward, dear, would you ask Cook to bring us some tea?"

"Yes, dear," came the resigned answer, and Edward headed for the kitchen.

Elizabeth could feel Jason relax marginally as the older man disappeared from view. He tensed again as they stepped to the living room doorway, which made sense when she realized that most of the family was in the living room. However, Lila said, "Don't worry, Jason, dear, everyone will be on their best behavior, or they will leave the room." She looked pointedly at Monica, Alan, Ned, and AJ in turn before saying. "Won't you?"

AJ said, "I don't have anything to say to _him_, so I'll just leave now." He brushed past them and headed upstairs.

Ned said, "Elizabeth, are you here to see Emily? I hope you didn't catch a ride with Jason. You never know when someone's gonna get shot or something's gonna get blown up around him."

She smiled sweetly at Ned and said, "Thanks for your concern, Ned, but Jason would never let anyone hurt me."

"Jason can't control everything," Ned pointed out.

"That's enough, Ned," Lila said firmly. "Elizabeth and Jason are my guests, so if you don't have anything nice to say to them, you shall have to just be quiet." Ned apologized immediately to Lila, but didn't look at Elizabeth or Jason. He walked over to the bar and poured himself a drink.

Alan asked jovially, "What brings you here, Jason? I didn't think anything would induce you to come here willingly."

"Oh, Alan, be quiet," said Monica. "Can't you see you're making Elizabeth uncomfortable? Come on in and sit down, Elizabeth, Jason." Elizabeth tentatively headed toward the sofa. Ironically, the chaos calmed her nerves, although she figured it would probably make her head spin eventually. She thought she might as well sit down. She guessed that Jason would never relax enough to do the same, so she sat on the arm of the sofa, keeping Jason's hand firmly in hers as he stood beside her. She hoped Emily would arrive soon, since she suspected Jason's patience would quickly wear thin.

Alan snapped back at Monica, "Well, don't you find it odd that Jason would come here of his own accord after swearing never to set foot in this place again?"

Monica rolled her eyes. "He didn't swear not to set foot in this place again. He swore never to set foot in ELQ again. And he said you weren't welcome in his home. But with Lila here, he would never avoid this place completely."

After several more moments of arguing, Elizabeth decided Jason had had enough. Just as she was about to interrupt, Emily walked in from the foyer and asked, "_What_ is all the shouting about? Can't I leave you alone for a few hours without World War III erupting?" Everyone quieted momentarily and looked at Emily before they all started speaking at once. She held up a hand and yelled, "STOP! Only one person, please tell me what's going on." Before they could all start again, she looked at Lila and said, "Grandmother?"

"Well, dear, Elizabeth and Jason came by to see us." She gestured toward the pair watching the discussion. When Emily looked their way, Elizabeth smiled and gave a little wave with her free hand. Elizabeth saw Emily's eyes widen slightly as she realized that Jason's hand was clasped tightly in hers. Lila continued, "Elizabeth said they had something to tell us, but the family hasn't let them get a single word in, so I have no idea what."

Emily's eyes swung to Elizabeth, and she asked curiously, "Elizabeth? What's up? You came by with Jason?"

Elizabeth glanced at Jason, then back at Emily. Her nerves returned full force, unsure how her best friend would take the news. "Well, the thing is, Em …" she began, "Um, well, Jason and I …" Unsure of what to say, she looked at Jason for help.

The corner of his mouth lifted, so slightly that she didn't think anyone else saw it. He turned to Emily and said bluntly, "We got married."

There was a stunned silence that felt to Elizabeth like an eternity, although she realized it couldn't actually have been more than a second or two. Emily's mouth dropped open and she stared at them, speechless.

Monica spoke first. "Y-you did what?"

Elizabeth answered her. "It's true, Monica. We got married." Edward walked into the room just as she finished speaking.

He bellowed, "You married this hoodlum?" Elizabeth ignored him and kept her eyes on Emily.

Emily sank into the nearest chair and asked, "Married?" Apparently, Elizabeth thought, the shock was limiting her normally loquacious friend to one-word questions.

Before she could answer, Lila said, "Darlings, that's wonderful news! I didn't even know you were dating!"

Alan interjected, "Dating? I didn't even know they _knew_ each other!"

Monica said, "You got married? When? Where?"

Emily again asked, "Married?"

Elizabeth nodded. "Yes, a week ago. We flew to Vegas and got married."

Emily sputtered, "B-but … married?"

"I know this is a surprise to everyone, but I hope you'll be happy for us. We're very happy."

Emily finally seemed to process the idea. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Elizabeth said, "I'm sorry, Emily. It was a spur of the moment thing and we didn't tell anyone. We just did it." She absently registered that the rest of the Quartermaines were, true to form, arguing amongst themselves, but she stayed focused on Emily. From her point of view, Emily's reaction was the one that really mattered. She would like it if the rest of the family approved, but she would be devastated if she lost Emily because of this.

Jason finally spoke. "Elizabeth wanted to tell you, Emily, but I wanted it to be just us. Don't be mad at her." Elizabeth realized that he was quickly getting in the habit of protecting her. She didn't want his relationship with Emily to suffer, either, though, and she opened her mouth to set the record straight.

Before she could say anything, though, Emily said, "I'm not mad, I'm stunned. How did I not see this coming?" She paused, then added, "How did I not know you were _dating_? I mean, my best friend and my brother! How did I miss it?" She paused again. Suddenly, she squealed with delight and jumped up from her chair. "Elizabeth, we're _sisters_! Not just best friends, but _sisters!_"

Emily launched herself onto the couch next to Elizabeth and threw her arms around her. Elizabeth pulled her hand from Jason's and hugged her back. She laughed, "Oh, I'm so glad you aren't mad. I was so afraid you'd hate me."

"Hate you? Oh, no, Elizabeth, I could never hate my _sister_. I mean, I can't believe you and Jason were dating and didn't tell me, and then you got married without me, too, which you are both gonna have to make up to me big-time. I mean, I _am_ kinda sad that I didn't get to be at your wedding, but wow! You're married! Ohmigod," she said, pulling away from Elizabeth and dancing around the sofa to throw her arms around Jason. "It's so romantic! A secret love, and an elopement, and – and, oh, Jason, this is the smartest thing you ever did! Oh, I'm so excited!"

Elizabeth's relief at Emily's reaction was palpable. She smiled happily at Jason, thrilled that things were going so well.

Then Edward bellowed, "Jason, you hoodlum! Tell me you didn't knock up your sister's best friend!"

And Elizabeth barely kept Jason from knocking his grandfather off his feet.


	14. Heartbreak

**FNF #20: Heartbreak**

**Prompt: Pick your poison.**

"Maybe we should wait until tomorrow," Elizabeth said anxiously. "It's getting late. She might be asleep already."

Jason smiled reassuringly and took his hand off the steering wheel of the SUV, reaching over to squeeze her hand. "It's barely eight o'clock. I doubt she's gone to bed already. And besides, do you really think it'll be worse than Edward's reaction?"

After Edward had shocked everyone with his assumption that Elizabeth was pregnant, the entire family had been in an uproar. The only reason the old man was still breathing was because Elizabeth had dragged Jason out of there so quickly. They hadn't even bothered to respond to Edward's question, so the Quartermaines probably would need to be set straight about that at some point. Now, though, he put that thought aside as he waited for Elizabeth's response to his own question.

"Worse than Edward thinking I'm pregnant? It might be," she said gloomily. "She'll probably disown me. She'll try to have me committed. She'll have me kidnapped and sent back to my parents to be straightened out."

Jason chuckled softly. "Elizabeth, it won't be that bad. She loves you. She'll be worried, and she might be upset at first, but she'll come around. And besides, she'll never get anybody past your guards to have you kidnapped."

Momentarily distracted, Elizabeth asked with alarm, "Guards? I have to have guards? Don't you think that's kind of dramatic?"

Jason sobered and looked at her. "Considering what led to this marriage, do you really have to ask that?"

"But … guards? As in, plural? Can't I just have one?"

"Well, you need at least three or four, so there'll be at least one with you at all times."

She raised an eyebrow. "At _all _times? Even when I'm with you? Even when we're … alone?"

His grin was decidedly sensual. "Well, they're not gonna be hanging out in the penthouse with us, but when you're home, someone will be guarding the door."

She frowned. "It sounds awfully restrictive, Jason. Can't we ever be alone, just the two of us?"

"Well, of course we'll spend time alone." He pulled the car to a stop in front of the house. "I can protect you when you're with me, but when you're not … Elizabeth, it isn't safe for you to be alone anymore. You have to know that."

She sighed. "I guess. But it's gonna take some getting used to." She looked at the house and changed the subject. "I don't think she's home. We should come back tomorrow."

"Elizabeth, her car is in the driveway and the lights are on. She's home. Waiting isn't gonna make it any easier."

She replied in a small voice, "What if she never wants to see me again?"

He touched her cheek gently "She loves you. She'll come around eventually." Elizabeth looked in his eyes and nodded slowly.

"Okay. Let's get this over with."

She unbuckled her seat belt and reached for the door handle.

XXXXXXXXX

Audrey stared at Elizabeth, momentarily at a loss for words. Having said what she came to say, Elizabeth braced herself for the explosion to come.

Finally Audrey spoke. "I must have misheard you, Elizabeth. You can't possibly have married _him_."

"He has a name, Grams. And you heard me fine. We're married, and we're very happy, and I hope you'll be happy for me." She reached blindly behind her for Jason's hand. When he took it, she suddenly thought that maybe she would be okay, whatever Audrey said. Jason had her back.

"Happy for you?" Audrey's voice rang with disbelief. "You expect me to be _happy_ that you married a criminal? Oh, Elizabeth, I don't know how you can expect that. Darling, he's dangerous. How could you have done something so stupid? Did he force you in some way?"

"Force me?" Feeling Jason tense behind her, Elizabeth squeezed his hand and almost laughed aloud at the idea of Jason forcing her to marry him. Hell, _she_ had practically forced _him_. She decided to say as much. "Grams, don't be absurd! Jason would never force me to do anything. I married him because I wanted to. If it's any consolation, he was just as worried about this as you are, and I had to talk him into it."

"Elizabeth, have you lost your mind? Why would that be a consolation? You're in just as much danger either way, and it's almost worse if he was aware of the danger and married you anyway." She looked at Jason. "And you! How could you do this to an innocent young woman? You've ruined her life!" She narrowed her eyes at him. "Unless, of course, you both come to your senses and get out of this before it goes any further."

Jason finally spoke. "Mrs. Hardy, I understand your concern, and all I can do is assure you that I will do everything in my power to keep Elizabeth safe and make her happy."

"That's ridiculous, Jason, and you know it. There is no way that anyone in your line of work can be safe, and there's no way you can keep anyone around you safe, either. Oh, no, Jason, you're being just as unrealistic as my granddaughter is if you think that this can end well." She turned back to Elizabeth. "Have you thought about what this means? No one around _you_ will be safe either. Not your friends, not your family, not any children you might have." She shook her head sadly. "Darling, you know I love you, but I can't watch you self-destruct. You're going to have to choose. You can have the life you love, with your friends and your family who love you, or you can stay married to the mob."

"Are you saying that if I stay married to Jason, you'll disown me?" Even though Elizabeth had feared this response, she couldn't believe her grandmother was putting it so plainly. "Are you really going to cut me out of your life just because you don't agree with my decision?"

"Darling, I love you, and I want you to be happy." When Elizabeth opened her mouth to say she was happy, Audrey held up a hand to forestall her. "I know you _think_ you're happy, darling, but in the long run, this will ruin your life. As your grandmother, it's my job to protect you from your worst impulses. Please, I'm begging you. Get out now, before you're in so deep that you can't get out."

"I'm an adult, Grams, not a child. I appreciate all you've done for me, and I love you, but I've made my decision, and I'm happy with it. I'm sorry if you don't like it, but if you're going to make me choose – well, it's too late. The choice is already made. I chose Jason, and I am choosing Jason, and I'll keep choosing Jason. That's what marriage is about. Will it be difficult? Yes, I'm sure it will. But no one is perfect. No _marriage_ is perfect. And no one is ever completely safe." She turned to Jason. "Let's go. There's nothing more I can say." Turning back to her grandmother, Elizabeth said softly, "I hope you can eventually be okay with this. It's not going to change. I love you."

Jason said, "Go ahead. I'll be right there." She nodded and walked out. Jason turned to Audrey. He said quietly, "She needs your support, even if you don't agree with her. I hope you'll give this a chance."

"I wish I could, Jason. But this will end in disaster. Mark my words." He shook his head and followed his wife out, closing the door quietly behind him.

She was waiting outside the SUV, with her head down as she scuffed her toe in the dirt by the driveway. As he approached, she spoke without looking up. "I don't have the keys."

"I'm sorry," he replied, stopping next to her. "I wish I could have made that easier for you." She finally looked at him, her eyes bright with unshed tears.

"It's not your fault." She sighed. "She was the only member of my family who ever supported me. I guess I finally pushed her away, too."

"This is not your fault, Elizabeth."

She continued as though she hadn't heard him. "I was never good enough for my family. They always wanted me to be different, to be more like them, to be _more_, period. I guess it was inevitable that eventually I would disappoint her, too. I guess I should be prepared by now. Everyone who's supposed to love me eventually decides I'm not worthy."

"Hey," Jason interrupted. "Don't talk that way about yourself. You're the best person I know, and if your family doesn't see it, that's their loss. You're giving up everything in your life to protect me, so don't tell me you don't deserve to be loved. You deserve it more than anyone I know." He stepped closer and pulled her into his arms. "She'll come around. You'll see."

"No, she won't," Elizabeth said softly. She closed her eyes and rested her head briefly against his chest, then took a deep breath and stepped back. "Let's go home. I'm fine."

He knew she wasn't, but he didn't know how to make her feel better. "Okay." He opened her car door and waited while she settled herself inside.

As he went around to the driver's seat, he promised himself that he would find a way to fix it for her_._

He simply wouldn't allow her to lose everything that mattered to her because of him.


	15. Growth and Renewal

_A/N: Okay, so the prompt was a choice of two this week, and I couldn't decide which one to work off of (note to FNF hosts – please don't make me decide stuff! LOL). Strangely, though, I think using both kinda worked at this point in the story – but I'd love to hear what you think!_

_Happy reading!_

**FNF # 21: Growth and Renewal **

**Angsty Prompt - There are things that we don't want to happen but have to accept, things we don't want to know but have to learn, and people we can't live without but have to let go. ~Author Unknown**

**Funny/Lighthearted Prompt - Love is staying up all night with a sick child -- or a healthy adult. -Sir David Paradine Frost**

As he drove his bride back toward the penthouse, Jason slanted a glance toward Elizabeth. She had been silent since he had pulled away from her grandmother's house – she seemed lost in thought, staring out the window into the darkness, and she somehow seemed to be making herself smaller than she actually was. Which, considering how petite she was, really was saying something. If he didn't know it was impossible, he would think she was shrinking into nothingness right before his eyes.

He tried to think of something to say that would make things better for her, but he had never been particularly good with words. At a loss for how to help her, he finally just reached over and took her hand in his, squeezing it gently. Initially, she didn't respond, saying nothing and staring out the window. He felt the unfamiliar sensation of anxiety rising – the accelerating heart rate, the increasing shallowness of his breath, the prickles of unease up and down his spine. What if she withdrew from him permanently? What if she had suddenly realized that he was nowhere near good enough for her?

After what felt like hours, he turned into the parking garage at Harborview Towers and headed for his parking space. His anxiety was nearing panic by this time, and because of that, he clung to her hand as he pulled to a stop, reaching awkwardly around the steering wheel with his left hand to put the gearshift into park and twist the key in the ignition. He just couldn't let go of her hand – he was irrationally convinced that if he did, she would slip away into herself forever.

The silence stretched for another eternity before she finally turned to look at his hand on hers. Ever so slowly, she turned her palm up and laced her fingers with his, then looked him square in the eye. He was surprised by the resolve he saw there. "Thank you, Jason," she said quietly.

Startled by her seemingly heartfelt gratitude, he asked hesitantly, "For … for what?"

"For … well, for … um …" She paused, apparently at a loss for words. She looked out the window again, but she kept her hand tightly clasped in his. Finally, she said, "I don't really know, exactly. I'm just glad you were with me back there. I don't know if I could have taken it without you."

"Elizabeth," he said softly, "You shouldn't be thanking me. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have had to go through that at all."

"It's not your fault, Jason," she replied, equally softly. After a moment, she said, "The thing is, Jason, if it hadn't been you, it would have been something else, at some point. It could have been anything, really. My choice of jobs, my choice of friends, or boyfriends, or clothes, or … or apartments. It could have been anything at all, "she said again. "I don't know when it would have happened, or where, or why, but I know that there would have come a day when I would have chosen something that she didn't like – something that didn't fit her image of me, of who I was supposed to be, and the very same thing would have happened. Only you wouldn't have been there to help me through it, so it would have been worse." She turned to face him again, and he saw that she was close to tears. Her voice broke as she repeated, "It would have been so much _worse_, Jason, if you weren't with me."

He doubted it would have been as bad for any of those other reasons, but she sounded so sure, and so sad, that he didn't argue. He brought his free hand to her face, and gently wiped away the single tear that had escaped. He whispered, "I'm glad you feel like I helped you." He unbuckled her seatbelt, and then hers, and he leaned over to kiss her gently. She sighed into his kiss, pulling her hand free of his to slide her hands into his hair and deepen the kiss.

She pulled back slightly, whispered, "Can we go upstairs now? I'm suddenly completely exhausted."

He smiled gently and said, "Okay. Let's go home." He turned to open the door, and to his surprise, instead of opening her own door, she followed him out the driver's side, sliding her hand down his arm to slip it into his once more.

She walked with him to the elevator, nodding to the guard and stepping in with him. He slid his arm around her shoulders, and was pleased when she leaned into him. When they stepped off the elevator, he nodded to the guard in front of Sonny's door, but instead of checking in with his partner as he normally would have, he headed straight for his own door, pulling Elizabeth with him. She was moving slowly, and he wondered if she was nervous about her new life until he glanced at her and saw that she was just distracted by her need to take in every detail of her surroundings. He realized suddenly that she had never been up here before.

On the heels of that realization came the thought that a bridegroom was supposed to carry his bride over the threshold. While he was normally not one to notice or care about tradition, it occurred to him that his bride probably was. And anyway, he wanted to distract her from her sadness about the encounter with her grandmother, so without warning, he swept her up into his arms, startling her into a gasp of laughter. "Jason! What are you doing?"

"Are you trying to tell me that you haven't heard about this tradition?"

"What tradition?"

"We just got married. Last I heard, this is what I'm supposed to do the first time I take my wife home."

She giggled. "Jason, you don't care about tradition," she pointed out, still laughing.

He grinned at her. "But you do, Elizabeth," he said simply. He pretended to drop her as he opened the door, making her shriek with laughter and tighten her hold on his neck.

He kicked the door shut behind him, but instead of putting her down as she expected, he headed straight up the stairs, not giving her much of a chance to look around. In fact, he didn't even stop to turn on a light.

"Jason," she protested, still laughing, "The tradition doesn't require you to carry me all over the entire house – or penthouse!"

He flashed her another grin. "I'm not carrying you all over the entire house – or penthouse," he teased. "Besides, I'm starting a new tradition."

"A new tradition? What's that?"

He gave her a heated look. "I'm carrying you to bed."

She let out an exaggerated sigh, trying to sound put out. "What if I don't want to go to bed?" she asked with all the innocence she could muster. "What if I'm not tired?" Never mind that not five minutes ago, she had told him she was exhausted.

"Then I guess I'll have to help you _get_ tired, sweetheart." His grin widened, and he deliberately tried to sound martyred as he added, "Even if it takes all night."

She laughed delightedly as he dropped her on the bed, but she didn't let go, pulling him down on top of her with surprising strength. Just before his lips took hers, she whispered, "I guess you will."

It was a long time before they went to sleep.


	16. Introspection and Adjustment

**FNF #22: Introspection and Adjustment **

_A/N: Time limit? What time limit? Seriously, at the point when time was up, I hadn't yet gotten to the part that makes the prompt make sense to me, so I went about an extra 15 minutes on this one …But since my cat kept blocking my view of the screen and walking across the keyboard, I figure I lost at least that much time during the hour I was supposed to be writing …_

**Prompt: Amare non è guardarsi l'un l'altro, ma guardare insieme nella stessa direzione.  
_Translation: Love is not just looking at each other, it's looking in the same direction_**

Jason woke early the next morning. He watched Elizabeth sleeping peacefully beside him as he thought back over the past two weeks. It had all been such a whirlwind, and he hadn't really had time to absorb what it all meant. Which, if the past two weeks had been even a little less overwhelmingly life-altering, would have been fine with him, since he wasn't a man given to introspection or analysis.

No, he usually just rolled along, bending with the changing winds of life, not taking time to think about what it all meant. Come to think of it, this was probably a useful trait for a man in his line of work. If he took time to think about the meaning of events in his life, he might have to recognize the fundamental wrongness of his chosen career. He might begin to doubt his choice of work – which could be deadly for him and for everyone who was counting on him to protect them.

Not least of which was his new bride. He pushed away the deeper thoughts about his life as a whole, and focused instead on the major new addition to it.

Two weeks ago, Elizabeth had been the beautiful, but out-of-reach, best friend of his little sister. Ten days ago, she had been the girl he was pursuing with focus and determination. A week ago, she had become his sudden bride, not out of some romantic desire to cement a bond between lovers, but out of the expediency of providing him with an alibi and neutralizing her potential to be a witness against him.

Looking back now, he thought maybe he should have considered more carefully what being around him could mean to her before he pursued her. He now acknowledged that it had been the most selfish thing he had done in all the years he could remember. If he was honest, though, he had to admit that he didn't regret it – and not just because he didn't believe in regretting what was done. No, he didn't regret it because he felt quite certain that, from the moment she had first kissed him, he couldn't have done otherwise. He had, quite simply, been compelled to be with her.

That didn't mean, however, that he could continue to ignore the very real issues that lay unspoken between them. As much as his life had suddenly changed, hers had changed even more, and with even less warning or understanding of what she was getting herself into. True, she had predicted her grandmother's negative reaction, but she hadn't understood how extreme it would be, or how deeply it would hurt her.

She had probably guessed that she would have to have guards, but she couldn't have known – didn't _yet_ know – what it would feel like to have someone watching her _all the time_.

She had seen firsthand how Taggert and people like him thought of her new husband as a common criminal, a thug, but she almost certainly hadn't realized that their view of her would change – would be tainted by her association with him.

And those were just the issues that would come from external pressures. He didn't even want to think about how those would up the ante on the normal issues that all married couples faced. True, they wouldn't have financial problems, but what about the everyday struggles – leaving the cap off the toothpaste, leaving the toilet seat up, what to have for dinner, morning people dealing with night people, whether and when to have –

Jason's thoughts came to a screeching halt as he realized that he had been horribly irresponsible for the past week. He had been enthusiastically making love to Elizabeth, often several times a day, without doing anything at all to prevent pregnancy. Worse, he hadn't considered the issue even once in all that time. Over the years, he had always been obsessive about birth control. He _always_ used condoms that he himself had brought along, even if the woman was on some other form of birth control – even if she told him she was sterile. Partly because of the risk of disease, but mainly because, when he had thought about the question of children, he had always assumed he wouldn't have any because he couldn't guarantee their safety. It had been different with Michael, because there had been no one else he would have trusted to treat him right, and as dangerous as his life was, he was still better than Michael's other options.

He frowned as he considered what might have led him to behave so uncharacteristically since he had married Elizabeth. Maybe it was that he hadn't initially been planning to sleep with her until they got to know each other better, so he hadn't been prepared. Of course, he now acknowledged that he had been kidding himself into thinking he would have any hope of resisting her from the moment it had become clear that she didn't want to wait. That, in itself, was totally unlike him – he planned and prepared for every contingency, always. He never assumed that things would go as he anticipated, expected, or hoped, which meant that there was always not just a single backup plan, but usually several backup plans, and then backups to all of _those_ backup plans. This was why he had survived in the world he had chosen.

As much as he didn't want to admit it, even to himself, he had to wonder if, at some subconscious level, he really _did_ want to have a child with Elizabeth. The thought of her as a mother gave him a warm feeling deep in his gut. Despite all the reasons he knew it would be wrong, it just felt really, really right.

He pushed the thought aside to focus on his wife as her eyes fluttered open briefly. She groaned and let them drift closed again as she smiled sleepily, then buried her face in her pillow and complained, "Stop thinking so loud. You're waking me up."

He couldn't help smiling at her disgruntled tone. _Talk about not a morning person_. He reached a hand up to stroke her hair back from her face, but her eyes were buried in the pillow. "It's morning. Didn't you want to get up early and start getting settled in?"

She didn't move, so her voice remained muffled by the pillow. "Not at this ungodly hour."

"Ungodly hour? It's already practically lunchtime."

"No way! Really?" she exclaimed, sounding shocked as her head popped up. She glanced at the clock on the nightstand and then smacked him on the chest and flopped onto her stomach. She didn't bury her face again, though, as she protested, "8:30 is _not_ practically lunchtime, Jason! It isn't even late enough to eat breakfast!"

He grinned at her. "8:30 is _late_, Elizabeth. I'm usually up by 6. But _someone_ kept me up way past my bedtime."

"Hey, you were in bed right on time. It's not _my_ fault you didn't go right to sleep." Her voice was innocent, but her smile was wicked.

"Oh, yes, it _is_," he teased, tickling her cheek with a lock of her hair. "You can't seriously expect me to go to sleep when you're lying next to me, wearing my favorite outfit."

She frowned. "What outfit? I'm not wearing anything."

"Exactly. And it's a real shame that you're covering it up with all those blankets." He made a sudden move and yanked the blankets away.

She shrieked in protest, diving to grab them back. "Jason! It's cold!"

He chuckled and grabbed her around the waist, pulling her on top of him, and began running his hand up and down her spine. She propped herself up with her elbows on his chest and glared down at him. "Oh, no!" he mocked. "Maybe I better warm you up before you get sick." He pulled her head down and began nibbling on her ear.

She didn't sound quite as disgruntled when she said, "You are incorrigible, Jason Morgan."

"Nah," he whispered back, between nibbles. "I'm insatiable. There's a difference."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Nearly an hour later, they lazed in bed. He had retrieved the blankets, and she lay with her head on his chest, his arm around her as he lazily stroked her hair. "Jason?" she asked, her voice timid.

"Mmmm?" he responded, eyes closed.

"I was just wondering …" she paused, as if searching for words.

After a moment, he prompted, "You were wondering …"

He felt her turn her head to rest her chin on his chest, so he opened his eyes slightly to meet her gaze. "Well, um …" she glanced away before saying in a rush, "It's just that this is the first time you … um …"

Realizing suddenly what she was trying to ask, he supplied, "Used a condom?"

She turned pink, but she said gamely, "Well, yeah."

"And you're wondering why." She didn't answer, just shrugged slightly. He said, "Well … I realized this morning that we – we haven't exactly been … careful."

"Oh." He waited while she processed that. After a moment, she said, "I guess there's a lot of stuff we haven't really talked about."

"Yeah," he said simply. "The last couple of weeks have been … kind of crazy, you know?"

"Yeah," she replied. "I guess a lot happened in a pretty short time."

"Right," he agreed, his voice gentle. "And I thought, maybe we should try to slow things down a little, you know? Give ourselves a chance to catch up."

She nodded slowly. "And talk about the things we haven't talked about yet."

"Yeah," he answered. "Is that okay?"

She didn't answer right away. Eventually, she said, "Yeah, I guess it makes sense. Just promise me one thing."

"What?"

"Promise me that we'll always be honest with each other, okay? No matter what. Even if you think it will hurt my feelings, just promise me you'll be honest, okay?"

He sighed. "You know there will be things I can't talk about."

She shook her head. "I'm not talking about your job, Jason. I'm talking about _us_. Promise me you'll always be honest about us."

"I promise," he said softly. She relaxed back onto his chest, and he kissed the top of her head, wondering if he had just made a promise that would be impossible to keep.


	17. The Solitaire Police

**Chapter 17: FNF #23: The Solitaire Police**

_A/N: I wasn't sure what to do with this prompt, so I went with fluff ... enjoy!_

**There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness.** ~ Friedrich Nietzsche

Late that afternoon, Elizabeth heard the door to the penthouse open, but didn't look up until she heard Jason's voice. "What are you doing?" he asked.

Elizabeth looked up and smiled at him. "Cheating at solitaire," she said lightly.

He frowned and looked at the cards spread out on the coffee table in front of her. "Cheating at solitaire? Why would you cheat at solitaire?" He put his gun away in the closet, then joined her on the sofa, leaning down for a quick kiss. "Hi," he smiled.

"Hi." She returned his kiss and his smile, then answered his question. "Everyone cheats at solitaire, Jason." Her smile widened into a teasing grin. "It's practically the whole point."

"But why play at all if you're gonna cheat?" He looked back at the cards, his brow still furrowed in confusion. "Why not do something else? Or at least play a game you don't have to cheat at?"

Elizabeth gave the question serious consideration before answering, "I don't really know, Jason. It's just something to do, you know? I was waiting for you to come home, and I didn't feel like doing anything productive, and I found this deck of cards, so …" She shrugged.

"That makes no sense," Jason complained. "There are any number of unproductive things you could do that don't involve playing a game that you have to cheat to win. In fact, I can think of several right now." He slid his arms around her and moved her to his lap.

She slid her hands up to his neck and grinned, pleased with the direction his thoughts seemed to be heading. She teased, "Well, if they're unproductive, what makes them better than cheating at solitaire? And anyway, I didn't know I had married a member of the solitaire police."

He made his face serious, and his voice stern, but the twinkle in his eyes didn't dim. "Well, Mrs. Morgan, we solitaire police take cheating very seriously. Are you aware of the penalties for this infraction?" His hand slid down to cup her bottom.

She shivered slightly at the heat his roving hand was starting to generate, but she wasn't ready to give up the game just yet. She was enjoying this light-hearted side of her husband too much. "Penalties? What penalties, Mr. Morgan?" She batted her eyelashes at him. "Is there anything I can do to convince you to ignore this infraction?"

He gave her an exaggerated leer and said, "Well, Mrs. Morgan, if you were my _friend_, I might be persuaded to look the other way just this once."

She shifted in his arms so she was straddling him, enjoying the grin that drew from him. She leaned in until she was flush against him and whispered, "Oh, I can be _very_ friendly_,_ Mr. Morgan," and then she started nibbling on his ear.

He slid his hands under her shirt and ran his hands up her spine, and she couldn't suppress a little gasp of delight at the sensation. He pulled her shirt over her head and began placing little kisses along her shoulder as he reached for the clasp of her bra. She quickly moved to get his shirt out of the way, needing to feel his skin against her own.

They continued kissing for a while, and she relished the feel of his strong back under her roaming hands, the sensation of her taut nipples brushing against his chest, the faint taste of coffee on his lips and tongue. She was just about to suggest that they go upstairs when she heard a commotion in the hallway. The door slammed open, and everything seemed to happen at once. Jason pushed her off his lap, putting himself between her and the potential threat as he sat forward and reached automatically for his gun. He cursed, apparently remembering he had put it away, as an agitated female voice called out, "Jason! How the hell could you … Oh, my God, Jason, what are you _doing_?" The hand that had sought the gun came to rest on Elizabeth's thigh behind him. She quickly found the nearest article of clothing – his discarded shirt – and slipped it over her head. She saw him relax marginally as he recognized the woman, so she peeked around him to see who it was. _I should have known, _she thought, seeing the familiar blonde head and angry face.

"Carly, what are you doing here?" Jason's voice was tight and irritable, and Elizabeth automatically placed a soothing hand on his bare back and began rubbing slow circles. He squeezed her thigh gently.

"What do you mean, what am I doing here?" Carly demanded. "And don't try to change the subject. How the hell could you get married and not tell me?"

"It was none of your business, Carly. And I'm in the middle of something, so you can leave now."

"I can see what you're in the middle of, Jason," Carly sneered. "And this is more important."

Elizabeth tensed at the other woman's tone, and Jason must have felt it, because he squeezed her leg again. "No, Carly, it's not. Now, go away." He raised his voice as he continued, "And where the hell is Ritchie?"

"Right here, boss," Ritchie answered from the doorway. Elizabeth watched over Jason's shoulder as he stepped forward, took Carly's arm in a firm grip, and started steering the reluctant woman toward the door. "Sorry she got past me."

"But, Jason, you –" Carly sputtered.

He spoke over her. "Yeah, well, in the future, she better knock before she comes in here." Jason's voice was hard, and Elizabeth could imagine the death glare he must be giving Carly when the other woman's protests quickly died. After a moment, he added, "If you can't make that happen, Ritchie, I'll have to find someone who can. No one comes in here unannounced. Ever."

"Right, boss. Sorry," Ritchie said again. He nodded to Elizabeth over Jason's shoulder. "Mrs. Morgan." He dragged Carly out into the hall and shut the door firmly behind him.

Jason quickly got up and locked the door behind them. Elizabeth wished he had thought to do that in the first place. He turned to look back at her. She tried to gauge his mood, but his expression was unreadable. After a long moment, she said, "So, I guess she heard we got married, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess," he replied. His expression grew wary, as if he were trying to figure out how mad she might be. "Um, I – I'm sorry about all that."

"It's not your fault she has no manners, Jason," Elizabeth pointed out, standing and walking over to him.

"Yeah, it kinda is," he answered, "I just never really had any reason to make her use them, you know? And I pretty much knew she'd blow a gasket whenever she found out about us." He looked chagrined, and she got the feeling that if she didn't do something quickly, his discomfort over Carly's behavior might lead him to shut down on her. She definitely didn't want that, so she took his hand in hers and started leading him back toward the couch.

"Is that why you didn't tell her yourself?" Elizabeth asked. She gave him a little shove, and he let her push him down onto the couch, looking bemused.

"Um, well, yeah, I guess I was hoping Sonny would deal with the worst of her drama." He stared up at her, looking like he was waiting to see what she might do next.

They would have to deal more with the Carly issue later, she knew, but for now, she simply nodded matter-of-factly and climbed back onto his lap, straddling him as she had earlier. She was pleased that despite his obvious confusion, his hands immediately came up to grip her waist. She gave him a small smile. "What, don't tell me you think I'm gonna let Carly spoil our fun?" she asked sweetly.

He looked deep in her eyes for a long moment, as if he couldn't believe she wasn't mad at him. Finally, his slow answering smile was downright wicked. "In that case, ma'am, I think that as a member of the clothing police, it's my duty to question you about a stolen t-shirt."


	18. A Hard Bargain

**FNF #24: A Hard Bargain**

**Prompt: Take the leap; build wings on the way down.**

Jason held the door as Elizabeth stepped into the furniture store. He wasn't quite sure how they had wound up here, but somehow a teasing discussion of the previous night's activities had led Elizabeth to decide that the sofa needed to be replaced immediately, and here they were.

A saleswoman swooped in before the door had fully closed behind them. "Hello! Welcome to Furniture City! Are you looking for something in particular?"

Elizabeth smiled at the woman and said, "We're thinking about buying a new sofa, if we find something that we love."

Jason tuned out the conversation, figuring Elizabeth could deal with the woman. He couldn't help worrying that this was the first step in a complete overhaul of his life.

He wasn't sure he was ready for this. Sure, they were married, and sure, she lived with him now, and so far, it was better than he ever could have hoped for. But furniture shopping just seemed so … permanent. What if she wanted to replace more than the couch? He was actually okay with that idea in theory – the couch had been there for a long time, and he wouldn't mind a more comfortable one – but what if she wanted something flowery and feminine? The guys would never let him live it down if she got a bunch of delicate furniture that they were afraid to actually sit on.

And worse, what if she wanted to get rid of his pool table? He _loved_ that pool table. He _needed _it on nights when he came home with the adrenaline humming – it helped him relax.

Although, he thought suddenly, maybe now that Elizabeth was waiting for him, he wouldn't need the pool table quite so often anymore. There were, after all, other ways to deal with an overabundance of adrenaline. A sudden mental image of Elizabeth sprawled out naked on the pool table, with _that_ look on her face, had him shifting uncomfortably as his pants grew tight.

He forced himself to listen to the conversation, hoping it would be boring enough to bring his body under control.

"I was thinking something leather," Elizabeth was saying, "But I want to be sure it won't stain if we spill anything on it." Her slight blush, and the very pleasurable activities last night that had ultimately led to this whole shopping trip, told him what she was really worrying might get on the couch.

This wasn't helping his predicament.

The saleswoman didn't seem to notice anything amiss, though. She said simply, "Oh, we can treat the leather with a waterproofing spray, like they do with leather shoes or boots. As long as you blot the spill up relatively quickly, it shouldn't stain."

Jason looked at the sofa the woman had led them toward. It was overstuffed leather, and it looked soft and comfortable. Another image splashed through his mind – this one even more explicit than the last. She was naked again, this time straddling him like she had last night, except on this new sofa. He stifled a groan. Who knew that furniture shopping could be such a turn-on? And since when had he been able to have mental images of _anything_?

He tried again to focus on Elizabeth's conversation. The saleswoman was saying, "And if you wanted a set, we also have a matching recliner, or you could go with the armchair and ottoman."

The images were coming fast and furious now – Elizabeth's mouth on him as he sat in the armchair, his lips and tongue on her as she sprawled in the recliner, him behind her as she knelt on the ottoman.

Maybe new furniture _wasn't _such a bad idea after all. If they didn't like it, they could always replace it again. Glancing around the store, he saw a number of other pieces – a coffee table, a bedroom set, even the previously-feared dining table – that looked sturdy enough to support whatever activities he and his sexy new wife might want to play at.

A moment later, he couldn't take it anymore, so, not caring that it was rude, he interrupted abruptly and said, "We'll take the whole set. How soon can you have it delivered?"

The salewoman sputtered, apparently caught off guard because he hadn't said a single word up until now, but she recovered quickly as she realized the size of the commission she would make.

"Well, we'll order it immediately, and it usually takes six to eight weeks for the company to make it…"

He frowned, shaking his head emphatically. No way was he waiting six to eight weeks for the new furniture. "What about _this_ set? If we took this set, how fast could you get it waterproofed and delivered?" He ignored the surprised look on Elizabeth's face.

"This set? We usually don't sell the display set …"

Impatiently, Jason interrupted again, "But you could, right? And it could be delivered later today?"

"Well, it would probably still take a day or two to get the waterproofing done."

"Jason, what's the hurry?" Elizabeth interjected. "We don't need it right away."

"Yes, we do." He couldn't explain the real reason, so he prevaricated, "What if we want to have people over before six to eight weeks from now? Maybe … I don't know, to celebrate our marriage? What would they sit on?" He noted a fleeting look of panic on her face at the thought of entertaining, but he figured he'd tell her the truth about his motives as soon as they were alone. He was a little surprised she didn't realize he would never _really_ want to entertain a bunch of people, but then, he supposed that they didn't know each other as well as they might, considering the circumstances under which they had married.

"Well, Jason, we do have the furniture that's already there," Elizabeth pointed out reasonably.

"No, we really should have the new furniture," he insisted.

She apparently recognized the determination on his face, because she shrugged and looked at the woman. "I guess he doesn't want to wait."

"Well, I suppose I could send it for waterproofing this afternoon, and have it delivered day after tomorrow."

"I'll pay double if you can get it there today," Jason replied.

"Jason, what's gotten into you?" Elizabeth asked, perplexed. He turned and looked into her eyes, letting his own eyes show her where his thoughts had been for the last several minutes. Her eyes widened briefly, then she blushed and turned back to the saleswoman. "He wants it today. Can it be done?"

"Well, I _may _be able to get it to you tomorrow evening. Any sooner than that, and the waterproofing won't be dry and you won't be able to actually sit on it."

"Tomorrow," Jason said firmly. "I'll still pay double if it's delivered by the end of the day tomorrow. If it's the next day, I'll only pay the asking price."

"Okay," the salewoman replied. "I'll put a rush on it and you'll have it tomorrow."

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

As they walked out of the store ten minutes later, Elizabeth studied her husband, surprised by this impatient side of him. When he met her gaze with a heated look, she whispered, "Jason, I can't believe you got turned on by furniture shopping."

He shrugged, leaning down to answer quietly, "It wasn't the furniture shopping, exactly." He opened her car door for her.

Frowning in confusion, she slid in and asked, "What was it, then?" He closed the door without answering.

A moment later, he slid into the driver's seat and leaned over to kiss her thoroughly. "It was imagining all the things we're going to _do_ on the furniture." He started the car and pulled away from the curb.

She blushed, but couldn't resist asking, "What things?"

He gave her another heated look and shook his head. "I'll show you when we get the furniture. In the meantime, let's go home and play a game of pool."

"Of pool?" she asked, confused at the apparent change of topic. His mood still seemed aroused, though.

He gave her another hot look. "Of pool," he confirmed. He grinned wickedly. "On the pool table." Her continuing bafflement must have shown, because he clarified, "Naked."

She felt an answering heat as she suddenly got his meaning. She smiled seductively, but answered as innocently as she could manage. "I've never played naked pool before."

His grin widened. "I'll teach you everything you need to know. Trust me, you're gonna love it."

Her own smile widened and she said, "In that case, does this thing go any faster?"

He laughed and pressed harder on the accelerator.


	19. The Guards' Guide to Relationships

_A/N: This wasn't exactly where I planned to go with this chapter, so don't expect the prompt to make any sense …_

**FNF #25: The Guards' Guide to Relationships**

**Prompt: Right Here Waiting – Richard Marx**

"I think I liked it better the other way," Elizabeth said, and Johnny groaned.

"Which other way?" Max asked cautiously. "I hate to tell you, Mrs. M., but this is the fifth way we've tried it."

"Um, well … I think it was the second way that worked best," she replied sweetly, giving the men an apologetic smile. Milo rolled his eyes and started pushing the chair back to that location. "No, wait!" Elizabeth exclaimed. "The third way was best. Definitely the third way."

"You're sure?" Ritchie chimed in.

"Yes, I'm sure," she insisted, repeating, "Definitely the third way." At Johnny's skeptical look, she said again, "Really. I'm sure this time."

The door swung open and Jason strode in, looking irritated, and tossed his keys on the desk. He looked at his men and asked abruptly, "Why is there no one on the door?"

"That's my fault," Elizabeth said, hurrying over and giving him a kiss in an attempt to reduce his annoyance. "I wanted to have the new furniture in place before you got home, so I kind of convinced them to help me with it."

Jason looked at the four of them, then back at Elizabeth. He sighed and slid his arm around her shoulders, giving her a gentle squeeze. "Sweetheart, I know this is an adjustment for you, but they know better." He looked at each of the men, his expression hardening along with his tone as he watched them squirm. "At least one of them needs to be outside guarding the door. I could have been anyone," he said pointedly. "And I don't think you want to see what will happen if the wrong person gets in here when Elizabeth is here."

"Yeah," Milo answered, as the others avoided Jason's gaze. "But Mrs. Morgan wanted to surprise you and it's been quiet lately …"

Jason shook his head. "It doesn't matter. You know better," he insisted mildly, but nevertheless adamantly. Elizabeth was amazed at how he could manage to sound really mad but completely in control at the same time. "Now, Milo, get back out there. The rest of you, since you're here, can move the furniture where Elizabeth wants it." He turned back to her, and when he rolled his eyes, she knew he had seen her sending apologetic looks in the direction of his men. "Unless you like it where it is."

"Yeah, it's fine where it is," she said, blushing. She was embarrassed that she had gotten them in trouble. The truth was, she knew better, too, and it wasn't fair that Jason was blaming them and absolving her.

"Are you sure, Mrs. Morgan?" Johnny asked. "I thought you wanted it the other way."

"No, it's fine. Thank you, all of you, for helping me." She risked a glance at Jason, then added, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get you in trouble."

Max said, "You didn't, Mrs. M. – Jason's right, we _do _know better. We just got distracted." He turned to Jason, "Sorry, it won't happen again."

Elizabeth cringed as Jason said simply, "It better not."

She felt even worse when Ritchie said, "Listen, if you want the furniture the other way, we'll put it the other way."

She suddenly wanted to cry, which she knew was ridiculous, and she didn't want them to see her, so she said, "No, it's fine. I think I'm gonna go lie down for a while," and she hightailed it out of there. She felt bad that she didn't even say good-bye, but as it was, she barely made it to the bedroom before she burst into tears.

XXXXXXXXX

Jason watched his wife leave the room, wondering why she was so upset. He turned to Johnny. "Did something else happen before I got here?"

Johnny shrugged, looking as perplexed as Jason felt as he, too, watched her retreat. "No, everything was fine. I mean, she kept changing her mind about the furniture, but she seemed okay." He turned to Max. "Didn't she?"

"Yeah," Max said.

"As far as I could tell," Ritchie added. "She can't be _that_ upset that you were pissed at us, can she? I mean, we deserved it …"

Jason sighed. "Who knows? I guess that's the only thing that makes sense." He paused. "Even though it _doesn't_ really make sense."

"Yeah," said Max. "It's not her fault." He paused, then said cautiously. "Maybe you should go after her."

Jason said, "I think she wants to be alone."

"What if she doesn't?" Johnny countered. "Women usually want you to follow them and … talk to them … or something … when they're mad."

"She didn't seem mad," Ritchie pointed out. "She looked ready to cry. You should probably go comfort her or something. Maybe even apologize."

"Okay," Jason said, pinching the bridge of his nose in an attempt to stave off a headache that he felt coming on. "Stop for a second. What should I apologize for? I didn't do anything. I came home, no one was at the door, and I told you not to let that happen again."

"Doesn't matter," Johnny said cheerfully, now that Jason seemed to be less angry and more confused. "She's upset, you apologize. That's how it works."

"How _what _works?" Jason asked in frustration.

"Relationships," Max interjected.

"Women," Ritchie added.

"Marriage," Johnny tossed out, adding helpfully, "Look, just go apologize and comfort her, and we'll put the furniture the way she wants it, and then we'll head on out."

"But she said the furniture is fine where it is."

"Jeez, Jason," Max protested, "You don't think she _meant _that, do you? She wants it the other way, but she feels bad because she thinks she got us in trouble, so she doesn't want to ask us to fix the furniture."

"How do you know all this?" Jason asked. "And why wouldn't she say what she meant?"

"She's a woman," Ritchie shrugged.

"I've got five sisters," Johnny sighed.

"I've been dating this hot lawyer," Max chimed in. "Trust us, _you_ need to apologize, and _we_ need to move the furniture."

"And putting it off is only gonna make it worse," Ritchie added.

"Okay," Jason said doubtfully, but he followed their advice and headed for the stairs, turning back halfway up to say. "You can let yourselves out when you're done moving the furniture."

They all nodded or waved in acknowledgement, so he sighed again and continued up the stairs.

XXXXXXX

"Elizabeth?" he asked cautiously, opening the door slowly several long moments after getting no response to his tap on the door. He heard a sniff, and headed in the direction of the bed, where she was lying on her side, facing away from him. "Are you crying?"

"No," she sobbed. He wondered why she bothered trying to lie about it.

"Yes, you are," he said gently. "I didn't mean to upset you." He reached out to smooth her hair back from her face.

"I know," she said tearfully, not looking at him. "It's not your fault. I'm okay. Really."

"Then why are you crying?"

"I don't know," she wailed mournfully. "I just suddenly wanted to cry. I can't help it. What's wrong with me?" She finally looked at him. "I never cry."

"Never?" he teased gently, but at her dark look, he grew serious again. "It's okay," he said, stroking her hair. "I'm sorry I made you cry."

"It's not your fault," she said again. "You didn't make me cry. I just – I didn't expect you to be so mad at them and so nice to me. Not when it was my fault. I shouldn't have asked them to help me, but I wanted to surprise you and …" She trailed off.

"It wasn't your fault," Jason insisted. "It was mine, and theirs, but not yours." He paused, then leaned over and kissed her forehead. "I'm sorry I got mad at them. I just – I got home and there was no one at the door, and I had this moment of – of panic. What if – what if something happened to you? It would be my fault, and I couldn't live with that." Not knowing what else to do, he handed her a tissue and waited while she blew her nose.

"How would it be your fault?" she asked, sounding more curious than upset now.

"You wouldn't need guards if it weren't for me," he said softly. "It wouldn't matter if there were no one at the door if you were married to someone else. Like Lucky or Nikolas or –" He couldn't think of another example, so he finished lamely, "– anyone else besides me."

He didn't really intend that to be funny, so he was surprised when she let out a wet giggle, and turned more fully to face him. "I could _never_ be married to Lucky or Nikolas." She made a face. "_Ew_. I would have to _kiss _them and … _ewwwww_ – _sleep _with them. God, how could you suggest such a thing?" She smacked him lightly on the chest, then rubbed the spot soothingly. "I love them like _brothers_, so that's just _gross._"

He couldn't help laughing at her expression – it was just how he imagined she would have looked as a child when forced to eat her Brussels sprouts or when her brother put a worm in her bed. "Well, it wouldn't have to be _them, _specifically_._ But the fact is, if you weren't married to me, you wouldn't need guards and you could have anyone you wanted help you move furniture. I'm sorry for that."

Tears gone now, she rolled her eyes dramatically. "Jason, if I weren't married to you, I wouldn't have anyone _around_ to help me move furniture. And I wouldn't have furniture to move, either." She sat up and wound her arms around his neck. "Besides, I kinda _like _being married to you. I'm sorry I caused trouble, though." She kissed him lingeringly. "Forgive me?"

He smiled and kissed her even more lingeringly. "There's nothing to forgive. You didn't cause trouble." She started to protest, so he kissed her again, and kept kissing her until she melted against him. "Now," he said between kisses, "I think we should count that as our first fight."

She drew back and frowned at him. "But it wasn't a fight, so why would we call it one?"

He grinned and said, "Because if it was a fight, we get to make up."

She grinned back and asked, "Has anyone ever told you that you have a one track mind?" But she leaned in and kissed him again, so he figured she didn't mind.

He laughed and said, "All the time. But no one else ever thought it was _this _track." He kissed her again, this time occupying his hands with the buttons on her blouse.

Suddenly, she pulled back. "What about the guys downstairs?"

"What about them?" He tried to capture her lips again, but she turned her head, so he began nibbling on her neck instead.

"What if – oh!" she exclaimed as he hit a particularly sensitive spot. She tried again, whispering urgently. "What if they _hear_ us?" Still, she tilted her head to give him better access.

"They left," he said. "A few minutes after I came up here." He hoped that was what the silence downstairs meant, but he didn't really care enough to check. He nipped at her earlobe, then caught her lips again as he tugged at her jeans. "They finished with the furniture and let themselves out."

"Oh," she sighed into his next kiss, and began pulling at his shirt. "Okay, then."

"Okay, then," he echoed, and nudged her backward until she lay back down in the position he wanted. Coming down on top of her carefully, so as not to crush her, he whispered, "Now, let's make up."

She whispered back, "Yes, let's make –" but he kissed her again, and that was the end of the conversation.


	20. Be Careful What You Wish For

**FNF 26: Be Careful What You Wish For**

**Prompt: When you love someone, all your saved-up wishes start coming out. ~ by Elizabeth Bowen**

Elizabeth and Emily stared, stunned, at the stick on Elizabeth's bathroom counter. Elizabeth couldn't believe what she was seeing, so she asked cautiously, "Is that a plus sign? That can't be a plus sign, can it?"

Emily looked at it more closely, then looked at Elizabeth and said, "It looks like a plus sign to me." She paused before asking carefully, "Are you okay? This can't be a total surprise … you must have had some kind of symptoms, right?"

"I guess," Elizabeth said doubtfully. "But I didn't really think anything of it. I mean, the flu was going around and if I was a little more emotional than usual – I mean, any new bride would be, right?"

"Well, yeah, but – you said you were ten days late."

Elizabeth shrugged. "I figured it was stress." At Emily's look, she added defensively, "What? It's not unheard of."

"Well, no, but come on, Elizabeth. Put it together and it all adds up."

"Which is why I decided to take the stupid test. But I didn't really think it would be positive." She sank down onto the closed toilet seat, placing a hand over her belly.

"Well, it is," Emily said gently, then paused. "I'm trying to figure out how you want me to react, here. I'm dying to jump up and down – I mean, I'm gonna be an aunt! But …you don't look happy."

Elizabeth let out a short laugh, but it lacked humor. "Emily, I'm in shock, here. Give me a minute to process this, okay?" She took a few deep breaths and released them. Finally, she said, "The thing is, I'm terrified. Things have been going so well, you know? I mean, even though he's been under a lot of stress, with Taggert dragging him in for questioning every time we turn around. I can't believe he's so determined to pin that Sorel thing on Jason – we were out of town getting _married _when the guy disappeared, for God's sake. And it sucks that Grams and Lucky and Nikolas are so upset about all this, but I mean, they'll come around, won't they? And Jason's been really sweet and … and caring and he acts like he's happy, and the _sex_, I mean, wow!"

Emily cut in, "Ohmigod, _stop! _TMI! I do _not _need to hear about your sex life with my _brother, _Elizabeth."

Elizabeth blushed, embarrassed. "Oh, sorry," she said sheepishly. "I forgot for a second."

Emily frowned. "Go back for a second. What do you mean, he _acts _like he's happy? Jason doesn't _act _at all, so if he seems happy, he _is _happy. And why would you think he wasn't? You're newlyweds, for God's sake. Of course he's happy!"

Elizabeth sighed. She wished she could tell Emily the truth about her marriage, but that wasn't an option, especially with Taggert already sniffing around Jason. "Well, I don't know, Em. It just all happened so fast, and I guess I'm having trouble believing he really wants to be with _me. _ I mean, look at him. Why would he choose me when he could have anyone he wants?"

"Elizabeth," Emily's frown deepened. "He loves you. Why else would he marry you?"

"I guess," she said doubtfully, because there was nothing else to say. "But he's not gonna be happy about _this_." She nodded toward the stick on the counter.

"What do you mean? Jason _loves_ kids. I'm sure he'll be thrilled."

"He won't, Em." When Emily started to protest again, Elizabeth forestalled her by saying, "He told me just a couple of weeks ago that he wants to wait, slow things down a little. He's not sure he wants kids at all, given his job and everything. So how do I tell him we're not only _not_ waiting a while, but we're not waiting at _all_?" Tears threatened, but she swiped impatiently at her eyes and wailed, "How do I tell him he's gonna be a father whether he likes it or not?"

Emily squatted in front of Elizabeth, looking deep into her eyes. "He may not have chosen this right now, but he'll be thrilled that it's happened. He loves you, and he will love this baby. I promise." She paused, and Elizabeth tried to look convinced, even though she knew that Emily was wrong – how could she know, when she didn't, _couldn't_, have all the facts? Emily was speaking again, so she forced herself to focus. "Now, forget about Jason for a minute. How do _you _feel about this?"

"I – I don't know. I mean, I'm terrified, like I said before. But – I guess I'm also excited, you know? I always wanted a family – I always wanted to be a mom. I always dreamed of having a family of my own, children to love and – and nurture, and enjoy. Honestly, I never thought I would. I mean, if my own family didn't want me, then I figured no one else would, either. And then Jason and I got married, and I guess I started kinda hoping … But how can I be happy if Jason's not?"

"Stop worrying about Jason," Emily commanded. "Be happy about this. Tell Jason right away, and that way you can stop worrying about it, because I know he's gonna be thrilled. And forget about your stupid family. Just because they never appreciated you doesn't mean no one else does. Jason loves you, and so do I."

"Well, I thought Grams and Lucky and Nikolas did, too, but the first time they weren't happy with my choices, they disowned me. So I guess I wasn't as important to them as I thought – hoped – I was."

"They're worried about you, but they'll come around when they see how happy you are." Elizabeth doubted it – no one ever loved her just for her. They all wanted her to be their idea of perfect – the perfect daughter, granddaughter, friend, girlfriend, whatever.

And she never would be, so what was the point of dreaming? She was surprised at how Emily had stuck by her so far, and now that she was no longer Jason's idea of a perfect wife, she fully expected to lose both her husband and her best friend any minute. Oh, Jason would probably be too noble to actually leave her, but everything would be ruined between them, and she didn't think she could stand to see his disappointment – to see him look at her without that light in his eyes that she had so quickly come to count on. So she would end up leaving instead, and Emily wouldn't understand because she didn't know the whole story – didn't know that Jason didn't really love her at all. She fought back tears at the thought.

She hadn't expected Jason to love her, really, so why was the idea that he didn't so upsetting? And once she left, how would she survive all alone? How would she take care of her baby?

Elizabeth pushed the frightening thoughts aside and focused on Emily, who seemed to be waiting for her to say something. So she did what she always did – she pasted on a smile and said what was expected of her. "Don't mind me. I'm sure everything will be fine. This is just the hormones and the shock talking. Don't worry. I'm fine."

And she must have been convincing, because Emily believed her.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Something was wrong with Elizabeth.

Jason knew it – after almost two months of marriage, he was getting better at reading his wife's moods – but no matter how often he asked her, she denied it. She simply pasted on the fake smile that he was quickly growing to hate, and told him not to worry, everything was fine.

He was starting to panic. He knew the past few weeks had been rough, for a number of reasons. First, Taggert had been hauling him downtown every other day, and had questioned Elizabeth extensively about the night Sorel disappeared, letting her know all the while how disappointed he was that she had married so far beneath her. Elizabeth had done great with the questioning, however, and there was little chance of charges being filed. She had reminded Taggert, in front of Alexis, who was acting as her attorney, as well as the DA and several other cops, that he had personally seen them make their date for the last night Sorel could be accounted for, and that her co-workers had seen her leave with Jason right on time. Since Sorel had been seen having coffee with his associates at the No Name until at least an hour later, and flight records clearly demonstrated that Jason had been out of town for an entire week straddling the time Sorel had apparently gone missing, there was simply no way he could reasonably be accused of the murder. That didn't stop Taggert from accusing him _unreasonably_, however.

But Jason didn't think that was the problem. When he had asked her if Taggert was upsetting her, and whether she wanted him to ask Alexis to get him to back off, she had said easily, "No, it's fine. I knew this was coming, and really, I don't want him to get the idea that I have something to hide. If he thought that, he would never let up. This way, he'll eventually have to stop."

So Jason had left it alone. He had tried ceaselessly to figure out what was bothering her, though. He had thought perhaps it was the way her family and friends were reacting to their marriage, which was awful, to say the least. He didn't understand how you could claim to love someone and then refuse to accept their choices. He had tried several times to get through to her grandmother, but she refused to even discuss it. He had asked Emily to talk to Nikolas, who she was still dating, and although Emily had tried, Nikolas was too loyal to his own brother to worry about hers, or to care what his attitude toward Elizabeth was doing to his former friend.

And Lucky was just full of sour grapes. Jason had been late meeting Elizabeth at Kelly's one evening, and when he had arrived, the younger man had her cornered and was nearly shouting at her about leading him on and choosing a common criminal over someone who had actually loved her. He had finished with, "Well, I guess it's good riddance, anyway. If you could want someone like that, then I can't imagine what I would want with you." When Jason had seen the tears flowing down his wife's cheeks, he hadn't been able to restrain his impulse to destroy Lucky. Fortunately, Max and Johnny had pulled him away before he could kill the man in front of her, but he had gotten a few good licks in and Lucky had studiously avoided both of them ever since.

Elizabeth had once again absolved him of any wrongdoing. She had insisted that no real harm had been done, and said she appreciated his defense of her, even if she didn't deserve it. He had frowned at that, but before he could question her about it, she had kissed him passionately, effectively ending the discussion.

Now, it occurred to him that she did that a lot. Whenever she didn't want him to question her about something, she distracted him with sex. The thought was not pleasing. Certainly, he loved making love with her, anytime, anywhere, but the idea that she was using that to avoid talking to him didn't sit well. Especially since she had made him promise that they would always be honest with each other …

He had even asked Emily if she knew what was wrong with Elizabeth, but his sister had hugged him and said, "She's working through some stuff. I'm sure she'll tell you when she's ready." And for once, she had held her silence – no matter how he asked, she had refused to say anything more.

And Jason kept on trying to figure it out as he quietly panicked. What if she was sorry she had married him? What if she was trying to work up the nerve to tell him she was leaving him?

He didn't quite know how it had happened, but he had reached a point where he couldn't imagine living his life without her.

And what scared him the most was that it was looking more and more like he was going to be forced to do exactly that …


	21. Hopes, Fears and Carly

_A/N: Thanks for all your feedback ... Keep it coming! But please don't lynch me! LOL!_

**FNF 27: Hopes, Fears … and Carly**

**Prompt: There is love, of course and then there's life, its enemy. ~ Jean Anouilh**

Carly brushed past Ritchie impatiently, insisting, "Look, I'm just gonna leave Jason a note. Little miss perfect won't mind _that_, will she?"

Ritchie said, "Mrs. Morgan isn't here right now." Carly couldn't restrain a flinch when he used that name, and apparently he couldn't resist saying it again – and again. "Mrs. Morgan went shopping and won't be back for several hours, so feel free to take your time. Mrs. Morgan has no reason to be concerned about whatever you might want to tell her husband."

She glared at him until he left, leaving the door ajar, as if he didn't trust her to be completely alone in Jason's home. As if she hadn't been alone in there a million times before. Of course, that was all before the little muffin-face had stolen Jason away from her. She had hardly seen him in the past three months, since he spent practically every minute that he wasn't working with the little woman. Even when he _did _spend time with her, it was never just the two of them anymore. It was always with Sonny and the little bitch there, too. She had tried everything she could think of to get him alone, because she just _knew _she could win him back – could make him see how his stupid cow of a wife was using him. But he simply avoided her as much as possible, and if he couldn't avoid her, he made sure other people were around, too.

So she was going to leave him a note. She had invented a crisis, by picking a fight with Sonny, and she was gonna say she was taking Michael and leaving town forever. _That _was bait he wouldn't be able to resist, even if he thought it might be a setup. He'd be too worried about what it would mean if it _wasn't_.

Making her way over to the desk, she looked for a piece of paper and a pen. Instead, she found an envelope sitting right in the middle of the desk, with Jason's name on it in a feminine hand. _So the little witch is leaving him love notes, now? We'll see about that._

She couldn't have him distracted from her impending flight from town by some stupid lovesick poem. Picking it up, she turned it over and paused only briefly before opening it. She could make up something if necessary – she could say that she hadn't seen any note if she was ever asked about it. She opened the note and began to read.

_Dear Jason,_

_I know you've been worried about me lately, and I'm sorry that I haven't been able to find the courage to talk to you about what's bothering me. I want you to know that it's not your fault – I'm just a coward, I guess. I can't stand the thought of how you'll look at me when I say this to you, so I finally realized that the only way to tell you is to write you a letter._

Carly snorted. It seemed things weren't so perfect if little Lizzie was afraid to tell Jason something. It was probably something stupid, anyway. Maybe she had overspent on his credit card buying all this ridiculous new furniture. Carly forced herself to keep reading, and the next sentence had her fighting a very strong urge to vomit.

_First, let me tell you that I've fallen in love with you. I didn't mean to, but it just happened. I know you think you've ruined my life or something, but the past few months have been the happiest time in my life. I've been able to love you, even though I never told you, and you've been so wonderful, that I've been able to pretend that you love me, too._

Carly snorted again. _Yeah, keep pretending, princess. Jason could never love someone as insipid as you._ Again, she forced her attention back to the letter.

_Jason, the thing I've been so afraid to tell you is that I'm pregnant. _Carly felt the bile rising in her throat – he had gotten her pregnant?! Now he would be stuck with her forever! But the next sentence made her feel a little better. _It happened on our honeymoon, I guess, before you said you wanted to slow things down. Please believe that if I had known you didn't want children, I would have made every effort to prevent this, but by the time I knew, it was already too late. I should probably also tell you that I never once considered terminating this pregnancy, even though you might have preferred that, because I already love our baby so much that I can't imagine being without him or her. But please don't feel obligated in any way. I have some money saved up, and if you would rather not be part of this baby's life, or mine, we'll be fine. I'll miss you, and I'll always love you, but I'll be fine, and so will the baby._

_I've decided to go back to Las Vegas for a little while. We were so happy there, together, and I just need some time away, and I need to know that you've had some time to process this on your own, too. I know that as soon as you read this, your first impulse will be to run after me – _here, Carly ignored the little voice that whispered that her nemesis apparently knew Jason pretty well – _but I want you to take some time and think about what you want. I don't ever want you to feel trapped or stuck with me, so please only come and get me if you really, truly want to, in the depth of your heart and soul. I couldn't live with myself if you started to resent me, Jason, and if you don't really want to be with me – with us – that's what will happen. So please don't get all noble on me and come after me just because you think you should._

_Emily says that I'm crazy to think you really don't want children with me – she says it's obvious that you love me and that even if you didn't think you wanted children before, you'll be happy now that it's happening anyway. _Carly wished Emily would just mind her own business. Muffin-face didn't need any encouragement. _But as you know, Emily doesn't know the whole story, and of course I can't tell her. _Carly briefly wondered what the "whole story" was, but decided she would probably find out eventually and didn't need to know right now. _I can't help hoping she's right, but I know it's probably wishful thinking. _That was exactly what it was, Carly thought triumphantly.

_Anyway, now you know, and you can decide what you want. If you don't want to be with us, I'll probably stay in Vegas and start over. It's as good a place as any to file for divorce, I guess. Either way, I love you, and I always will._

_Elizabeth_

Carly re-read the letter, trying to figure out what to do. Jason was too noble for his own good, and muffin-face's entreaties aside, he probably wouldn't waste a minute going after her if he got this letter.

Which meant, she decided, that he simply couldn't get the letter. It would have to be lost, and it was up to her to make that happen – to protect him from himself and from his "wife". She considered whether Emily knowing about the pregnancy would be a problem, and decided the young woman would probably turn against her BFF if she believed Lizzie had dumped her brother and disappeared without a word.

She put the letter and envelope into her purse, quickly grabbed paper and a pen and scribbled a note to Jason – not the one she had intended to leave, of course, now that her nemesis had left on her own. Just, "Stopped by to talk, give me a call. C."

As she left the penthouse, she said, "See you later, Ritchie," as if nothing was amiss.

Because it wasn't. Everything was finally back the way it should be.

XXXXXXXXX

Jason's cell phone rang as he left Sonny's office. Seeing that it was Max, he frowned in sudden concern. Max was guarding Elizabeth today. Taking a calming breath, he assured himself it was nothing, and forced himself to answer the phone. "What's happening?"

"Um," Max replied, and Jason's stomach knotted. "Um, well, don't panic or anything, but … I think I … um … lost Mrs. Morgan."

Jason's voice was low and deadly when he replied. "You _what_?"

Max's words came in a rush. "She went into the ladies room at Wyndham's, and then after a while, when she didn't come out, I asked the saleslady to check and it was empty. And then I checked myself, and she was gone. But I swear, Jason, I _checked_ before I let her go in, and there was no one there. I don't know what happened." Despite his own anxiety, Jason recognized Max's distress – the usually stoic man sounded near tears.

"Calm down, Max," Jason ordered, ruthlessly suppressing incipient panic. "You're sure no one went in or out after she went in there?"

"No way, Jason. I was standing right in front of the door, blocking it. There's no way," he said again.

"What about windows?"

"There was one small window, Jason, but it was up high and it was too small for anyone dangerous to get in. And anyway, I was right in front of the door. I would have heard a struggle."

"I'll be right there. Stay put, but get every available man looking for her."

Jason disconnected, and as he sped toward Wyndham's, he forced himself to think. He trusted Max – knew the man would never have let Elizabeth go into the ladies room without checking it as carefully as he had described. Which meant that he would find things exactly as Max had described – a secure bathroom with a tiny, high window, no Elizabeth, and no sign of struggle. And that meant that no one had taken Elizabeth against her will.

Which in turn meant that she had left voluntarily.

Trying not to overreact, Jason thought maybe she just needed some time alone. Maybe she was tired of having someone with her 24/7. Maybe she had felt stifled and gone for a walk in the park or something, and would be waiting at home to cajole him out of yelling at her for scaring him.

He really wanted to believe that that's what had happened. Just last night, she had made love to him more passionately than he could ever remember, and he had thought she might finally tell him what was bothering her. Instead, she had waited until she thought he was asleep, and she had pressed a kiss to his lips and whispered so softly that he wasn't sure he heard her right, "I love you." And he had felt a single tear drop onto his cheek before she had put her head on his chest and gone to sleep.

He had hoped that they would finally talk in the morning. He had planned to tell her he loved her, too, but she had been sleeping so peacefully when he had to leave that he hadn't wanted to disturb her. So he had waited, thinking he would tell her tonight.

But now he realized that regardless of her words, she had actually been saying good-bye. She had finally decided she didn't want to be married to a criminal and she had left.

And she had taken his heart with her.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Elizabeth stepped out of the airport and fought a wave of nausea as the desert heat hit her. She paused to put on her sunglasses and take a sip of water. Looking around, she finally spied the limo waiting for her. She might not have recognized it, but her concierge friend Andrew had come for her himself, instead of just sending one of the Bellagio's usual drivers. "Mrs. Morgan!" he called happily, as he approached and took her bag. "Is this all the luggage you brought?"

"Yes," she replied. "I'm going to shop for some new things, anyway, so I figured I would pack light." She smiled. "It's good to see you, Andrew, but you didn't have to come yourself, and you're supposed to call me Elizabeth, remember?"

"Oh, right, sorry, Mrs. – I mean, Elizabeth. And I like to give special treatment to our special patrons, so here I am. Will Mr. Morgan be joining you later on this trip?"

"I – I'm not sure. He might not be able to get away right now," she hedged. Uncomfortable, she changed the topic. "I had forgotten how hot it gets here."

He laughed and said, "Well, yes. This _is _the desert." And he kept her entertained with gossip about the sin city for the rest of the drive to the hotel.

XXXXXXXXX

Two hours later, having napped briefly and then eaten a light dinner from room service, Elizabeth sank into the tub in the luxury suite she had been escorted to by the bell captain. Even though it wasn't the honeymoon suite this time, the bubble bath was the same, and the scent brought back vivid images of her wedding and honeymoon. She remembered every detail, reliving it in her mind, until she realized tears were trickling down her cheeks and the water had grown cold. Shivering, she opened the drain and stood, wrapping herself in the plush terrycloth robe the hotel had provided.

She was suddenly so very tired that she didn't even take time to dry her hair or change into her pajamas. She simply crawled into bed and turned out the lights. Just before she fell asleep, she whispered a single word – a prayer, really – into the darkness.

"Please."


	22. Fallout Redux

_A/N: Thanks for all your feedback! And please keep it coming_!

**FNF 28: Fallout (Redux)**

**Prompt: Passion makes the world go round. Love just makes it a safer place. ~ Ice T**

Carly tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for Sonny. Until he arrived, she had nothing but time on her hands and all she could do was think. Thinking normally didn't bother her, but lately, she had grown to hate her own thoughts. She did everything she could to keep busy and distracted, because if she thought too much …

Well, her thoughts always came around to the same place. _What if I made a mistake?_

Things hadn't gone the way she had expected after that fateful day two months ago. She had assumed things would return to normal – that Jason would return his attention to where it belonged. Specifically, on her and Michael and Sonny.

Oh, sure, she had expected that Jason would make a half-hearted attempt to look for his erstwhile wife – he would take his husbandly duty seriously, of course – that was just who Jason was. But she hadn't expected him to be so single-focused about it. And then, when she had seen how intent he was on finding Elizabeth, she had resigned herself to the fact that when he did, he would go after her and try to convince her to come back.

But he didn't. After searching desperately for nearly three weeks, he had suddenly … stopped. After a couple of days, she had asked Sonny what happened, and had been surprised by the answer. Sonny had simply shrugged and said, "He knows she's safe. So he's letting her go."

She had been relieved, initially, thinking that although he had looked harder and longer than she thought he would, it had been simply out of a sense of obligation, as she had always thought. But then he had slept for a week straight, which wasn't like him, and she asked Sonny about that. Sonny shrugged again. "He misses Elizabeth. I think he's a little depressed. I'm sure he'll get over it soon."

And she had assumed Sonny was right. But then, when Jason finally stopped sleeping all the time, he didn't get back to normal. Instead, he stopped sleeping altogether. Except when he passed out. Which was a lot, because after spending two days on his motorcycle, he had parked it and not gotten on it again, and since then, he drank constantly. And not just beer, like he used to, but the hard stuff – tequila, whiskey, vodka, gin – whatever he could get his hands, really, on as long as it was potent. It had been more than a month since she had seen Jason in any condition other than drinking, drunk, passed out, or hungover.

He was also picking fights with whoever would oblige him. She overheard the guards talking about how he seemed to go out of his way to insult the biggest, meanest men he could find, and then try to take on several of them at once. They said they were getting tired of having to step in and protect him, but she knew they would keep doing it because _they_ knew that when he was himself again, he would do the same for them, just as he had so many times in the past.

Worst of all, he was avoiding everyone who had ever mattered to him, except Sonny. She supposed he didn't want Michael to see him in this condition, which she guessed she should be grateful for, but the little boy didn't understand why his adored uncle never came around anymore. And just the other day, when she had run into Emily at Kelly's, the other woman had asked her in a worried tone if her brother was doing any better. Carly hadn't realized until that moment that Jason had cut his sister out of his life, too.

The last straw came when Lila had called this morning. Sweet, loving, wonderful Lila, who had always been kind to her no matter how much the rest of the family despised her, had asked in a trembling voice if there was anything she could do to help Jason. And that was when Carly had realized that she had to do something.

So today, she was going to bite the bullet and ask Sonny to _do _something, _anything, _to stop Jason from drinking himself to death. She couldn't imagine surviving without him, even though she had basically been doing just that since the day he had gotten married. But if he didn't pull out of this soon – if, God forbid, he _died_, the guilt would kill her – she had done this to him, and the fact that her intentions were good would be cold comfort.

Sonny finally walked into his office, and looked surprised when he noticed her there. "Carly, I thought you were going to the park with Michael today."

"I sent him with Leticia. I needed to talk to you."

"About?"

"Jason."

"Oh." He said nothing more, but then he didn't need to – Sonny's voice said it all. He was just as worried as she was, and he didn't know what to do to help his friend.

"We have to do something, Sonny. He's destroying himself, and I'm afraid …" she paused, not wanting to say it out loud.

He finished for her. "Afraid he's gonna kill himself." He sighed. "He wasn't even this self-destructive after the accident. I just don't get why Elizabeth would up and leave without a word. They seemed so happy. I could've sworn she was in love with him – the way she looked at him …" his voice trailed off and he looked away.

Carly took a deep breath. If this is what it took to save Jason, she would do it, even though he would probably hate her forever. She said in a small voice, "She was." Sonny's head shot up, his eyes widening. "She probably still is," she added in a stronger tone.

Sonny's brows drew together. "Carly," he demanded. "What did you do?"

She looked at the painting to his left, then out the window behind him, and finally at the floor before answering defensively, "I thought I was _helping_ him. I didn't think he really _loved_ her – I thought she had trapped him or something."

"Carly," he said again, louder, "What did you _do?_"

Her eyes darted nervously around the room again, avoiding his sharp gaze. Eventually, because she owed it to Jason, she met Sonny's eyes and said very quietly, "She left him a letter."

"Oh, my God, Carly. _Tell_ me you didn't take it. _Please_ tell me you didn't do that." She looked away again and said nothing. After a moment, he walked over and grasped her chin, forced her to meet his gaze. "I assume you read it. What did it say?"

She didn't answer right away. She jerked away from him and walked over to get her purse off the desk. She said, "I kept it." She pulled it out and handed it to him, then walked to the door. "Taking it was a spur of the moment thing – a split second decision in the heat of the moment. I really thought I was helping him, Sonny. I hope you believe that, because I really did. It just never occurred to me that he could really love her."

She left without waiting for an answer.

XXXXXXXXXX

Elizabeth hummed softly to herself as she moved around her little office. After her first month in Las Vegas, she had finally given up hope that Jason would decide he really loved her after all and come for her. She had cried for an entire day once she realized that he wasn't coming, and then she had accepted that it was just going to be her and her baby from now on.

She really had no one else – not only had Jason not been in touch, but neither had Emily. She missed them both, but she understood. Jason didn't want her or her baby, and Emily didn't know that it had been his decision, not hers. So naturally, she thought she was supporting her heartbroken brother by cutting ties with his estranged wife.

Although all of them had tried to contact her several times, she had no desire to talk to her grandmother or Nikolas or Lucky, so she never took or returned their calls. She no longer trusted that they would stand by her once they found out she was pregnant, and frankly, she didn't want to take the chance that they would turn on her child the way they had once turned on her. She was going to protect her baby from anyone who had proven they couldn't be trusted to provide support when it was most needed. Her baby would _never_ know what it felt like to have people take away their love just because they didn't agree with his or her choices.

So she had finally, reluctantly, started to move forward with her life. Andrew had been a godsend. Once he had realized that she wasn't going back to Port Charles, and that her husband was never going to join her, he had taken her under his wing. He had helped her find a nice apartment in a good section of town – only five minutes from his, as a matter of fact. Then he had helped her figure out what kind of work she might like to do, and made sure she met the right people to help her do it.

So she had become an assistant to the curator of the art museum at the Venetian. She loved it – she helped with the layout of the displays, and she conducted several guided tours each day. Her passion for the beautiful works of art overcame any shyness she might have felt, and distracted her from the sadness she felt over the demise of her marriage.

She was slowly making new friends, both through Andrew and through the people she met at her job, and in general, she was content with her life. Maybe not quite happy, but then, she didn't really expect that anymore, anyway.

And if she still sometimes cried herself to sleep at night, well, that was her little secret. If she still woke up, aroused and on edge, needing the release that only Jason could give her, well, she would eventually stop dreaming of him and stop missing the passion they had shared. If she sometimes wished she could still pretend that he loved her as much as she loved him, that was harmless, wasn't it? And if she sometimes wondered how he was doing, and hoped he was happy now that he wasn't saddled with her and her baby – that had to be a good thing, didn't it?

To the rest of the world, she looked happy. She made sure of it, because if she didn't, people might ask her what was wrong, and she wasn't ready to go there.

She wasn't sure she ever would be.

XXXXXXXXXX

Jason slowly came awake, the familiar pounding in his head reminding him of things he would rather forget. He didn't open his eyes until he could wait no longer to relieve himself, and even then, he only opened them enough to prevent major injury as he stumbled to the bathroom.

When he was done, he took a quick shower in an attempt to feel slightly human again, although he sometimes wondered why he bothered. Today would be the same as yesterday, and tomorrow the same as today. The endless string of days of the rest of his life without her taunted him as the water poured over him.

He needed a drink.

He wondered briefly how he had gotten home. His last recollection was of making an insulting comment about the mother of a man who was more the size of a tree. He didn't know what had happened after that, although as he wiped off the mirror, he figured that memory probably explained the cut over his eye and the fat lip, as well as some of the aches and pains he now noticed in the rest of his body. Seeing the stubble on his face, he wondered when he had last shaved. Not that it mattered, anyway.

He really needed a drink.

He pulled on a pair of jeans and a clean t-shirt, wondering absently when he might have remembered to send out his laundry. Heading downstairs, he grabbed his keys, intending to head back to Jake's and pick up where he had left off last night … or whenever he had last passed out and been carried home. One of these days, he half-hoped the guys would just leave him to his fate, but he knew they never would.

He had a hand on the door when Sonny's voice came from behind him. "There's something you should see before you go, Jason."

"Can't it wait?" he asked impatiently. He was nearly desperate for a drink, and there was nothing that Sonny could tell him that would change that.

"No, it can't," Sonny replied, in a voice that brooked no argument. Sonny rarely used that tone with him, and when he did, Jason couldn't really ignore it.

"What is it?" He slowly turned around to face his friend.

"It's something you should have gotten two months ago. If I had known about it then, you would have." He held out a slightly crumpled piece of paper.

Curious now, in spite of himself, Jason slowly walked forward and sat on the edge of the ottoman. He usually avoided the living room because of the memories it held for him. Even now, an image of Elizabeth looking at him from the armchair, with _that_ expression on her face, danced at the edges of his memory before he pushed it away.

He reached out to take the paper, but Sonny pulled it back and asked, "If I leave this with you, will you give me your word that you'll read it before you go anywhere or do anything else?"

"Yeah, okay," Jason said, impatient again to get it over with and get the hell out of there, to find the oblivion he needed.

Sonny handed it to him and stood. "I'm trusting that you'll keep your word, Jason. Don't let me down."

"Yeah." He watched as Sonny let himself out, suddenly afraid to look at the paper that Sonny seemed to consider so important.

Finally, he forced himself to look at it. He started reading it, not absorbing at first what it was … what it meant. When he realized, the pain struck him so intensely that his body curled in on itself, and he couldn't hold back a keening cry. "_Nooooooooooo!_ Oh, God, oh, _God_, no!"

He dropped the letter and ran to the kitchen because he knew he wouldn't get to the bathroom in time. He barely got to the sink before his stomach emptied itself.

When there was nothing left to purge, he leaned there for several long minutes, breathing hard, as he tried to collect himself. His eyes felt suspiciously moist, which he attributed to the vomiting even though he knew, deep down, that it all went back to the same thing.

All this time, she had been waiting for him, wanting him to come get her, thinking he didn't want her. Believing that he didn't love her or their baby enough to follow her.

All because he had been too stupid or too proud or too weak to just go and tell her the truth.

To fight for what he wanted.

To keep what was his.


	23. Restoring Order

**FNF #29: Restoring Order**

**Prompt: The hunter's moon**

The door slammed, startling Carly. She caught her breath and turned to face him. He stared at her without speaking for a long moment, and seeing the look in his eyes, she braced herself for his fury. When she could no longer take the silence, she whispered, "Sonny told you."

He stared at her for another long moment before he answered, and when he finally spoke, his voice was all the more devastating because it was so quiet. "Sonny didn't have to tell me. Do you think I'm stupid, Carly?" His tone was conversational, but he didn't give her a chance to answer. "You know, for the last three days, I've had a lot of time to think. I've been drying out – under medical supervision, I might add, because apparently going from drinking gallons of liquor a day to not drinking at all is dangerous. And the thing is, I remember every detail of that day – every minute. You were the only one who could have done it – the only one who had access to the penthouse that day who had any _reason_ to do it." She opened her mouth to defend herself, but he wasn't interested. "I don't want to hear excuses, Carly. Save them for someone who cares, because I don't."

She shut her mouth, recognizing that he wasn't ready to hear her reasons. His voice cracked with emotion as he continued. "Just – just tell me one thing, Carly. _How_ could you do this? She's all alone, and pregnant, and you _knew_ –" he paused, visibly collecting himself, before continuing, "– and you just _left_ her there, away from her family, cut off from her friends. Thinking –" he caught his breath, his voice breaking again, "– thinking that no one in the world gave a damn – that _I _didn't give a damn about her – or about my _child_." He paused again, looking like he expected her to say something, but she couldn't find words and after a long moment, he asked her again, in a voice so low she had to strain to hear him, "How could you _do_ that? I – I know you never liked her, but I – how could you be so deliberately cruel to someone who never did _anything_ to you?"

He paused again, and still, it took her another moment to find her voice. It came out in a mere whisper. "I didn't know you loved her, Jase." She looked briefly away from his piercing gaze, then forced herself to look back at him. She sighed. "One minute you hardly knew her, and the next you were coming home married to her. I never once heard you mention her – no one ever said you were dating her. I thought – I figured she must have trapped you somehow, and I thought I was helping you." The blankness of his expression was scaring her. He had looked at her in many ways before – with lust in the beginning, with fondness since the lust had gone away, and sometimes with exasperation or frustration or irritation. But never before had he looked at her with cold indifference. And his next words, stated flatly, made her fear she really had driven him away forever this time.

"No, Carly. You don't get to claim you thought you were _helping_ me by letting me think my wife had left without a word. You don't get to tell me that leaving _my wife_ alone and pregnant in an unfamiliar city was _helping_ me. Even if you didn't know I loved her, you can't say that you didn't know I would love my child. You just – you can't." She looked at the floor. What could she say to that? But he wasn't finished, and he ducked his head so that she couldn't avoid looking at him. "There are some things you just don't do to someone you care about the way you claim you care about me. You weren't helping me, Carly, so don't try to tell me that you were. You were helping yourself, like you always do. You saw us together – you saw how happy we were, and you were jealous because for once, I had something that was mine and that didn't revolve around you. You figured that if she went away, I would just forget all about her and focus on you again. Well, here I am, and my focus is on you, right where you wanted it. Take it while you can get it, because it's never gonna happen again. Not ever again, Carly."

She panicked at the finality in his voice. He had to change his mind – he just had to. She didn't care that her desperation bled through her words. "Jason, I _swear_ I thought I was helping you. Yeah, I was jealous, too, but I _really_ didn't get it. And she said herself that you didn't want children, but I knew that you wouldn't turn your back on your child, so I thought I was keeping you from getting trapped. And _she _didn't want you to be trapped either."

But he was having none of it. "Carly, I'm telling you now, and I want you to listen very carefully – don't help me anymore. Just stay away from me and stay out of my business and stay out of my life." Carly gasped at his words, but the continuing flatness in his voice convinced her that he really meant it. "Here's what's going to happen now. I'm going to get her, if it's not already too late to convince her to come home. If she won't come back, I'll just stay there with her, forever if I have to. And if I do convince her, I'll bring her back here and we'll live our own lives, separate from you." Her next protest must have shown on her face, because he anticipated it with his next words. "Oh, don't worry, I'll see you when I can't avoid it – because Michael and Sonny aren't to blame for your actions, and Michael wouldn't understand if I disappeared completely from his life. But I won't rescue you from whatever mess you make, and I won't let you cry on my shoulder, and I won't bother to try to talk you out of your little games. And I want you to remember, Carly – she didn't do this to you. You did this to yourself." He turned and strode to the door.

"Jason, wait!" She raced after him, took heart when he paused. "I know you're angry with me right now, and I don't blame you. But please try to remember two things: first, when I finally realized how much she meant to you, I told the truth, even though I knew you'd probably never forgive me." She paused, looking for any sign of softening in his countenance. Finding none, she continued, her voice breaking, "and second, even if – even if you _never_ forgive me, I love you enough that I would rather have you alive and hating me, than dead and loving me."

He didn't say anything, but he nodded once, then opened the door and left, letting it click quietly closed behind him.

XXXXXXXXXX

After his visit to Carly, Jason's next stop was the Quartermaine mansion. He slipped in through the garden and found Lila on the patio. "Jason!" she greeted him, looking him over carefully. Apparently, she was pleased with what she saw, because she smiled and said, "I'm happy to see you looking so well, darling. I've been hearing some rather disturbing reports about you recently."

"I'm sorry I worried you," Jason replied sheepishly, leaning down to kiss her cheek. "Something happened, and I didn't handle it very well." He paused, then corrected himself. "Actually, I didn't handle it at all. But I'm fixing it now."

"Well, that's good news, dear. I've been wondering when you would come to your senses and bring your wife home."

He couldn't help smiling; she was so perceptive. "I should have known you would know everything that's going on. But there's something you might not know. Elizabeth's pregnant."

"Oh, congratulations! That's simply wonderful, dear. You must be thrilled."

He grinned, letting his delight show. "I am. Unfortunately, Elizabeth seems to think I'm not."

Lila frowned. "Why on earth would she think that? You love children."

"I think I said something when we were first married that gave her the wrong impression. You know I'm not very good with words."

"Well, I'm sure once you talk about it, you'll set things right."

"What things?" Emily joined them on the patio. Like Lila, she inspected him carefully with her eyes. "Jason, it's good to see you. I've been worried."

"I know. I'm sorry – I haven't been handling things very well."

Her voice was bitter. "Well, if Elizabeth hadn't disappeared without a word –"

He cut her off because he couldn't stand the idea that she blamed Elizabeth for his failings. "She didn't."

"What? What do you mean, she didn't? You looked for her for weeks before you figured out where she went."

"She left a letter. I just didn't get it until three days ago."

"A letter? What kind of letter?"

"She told me she was pregnant and that she loved me, and said that she hated the idea that I might feel trapped, so she was going away to give me some time to think and decide if I wanted her and the baby."

"But I _told _her you would be thrilled about the baby." Emily looked furious.

"But _I _didn't," he replied gently. "And considering that I also hadn't mentioned that I loved her, it took a real leap of faith for her to tell me all that, considering her previous experiences with people who claimed to love her."

Emily looked chagrined. "Including me, I guess."

"Well, you didn't have all the facts, did you? And I'm sure she knows that you were just trying to support me."

"But if I had just called her, we could have straightened all this out two months ago."

"You don't know that."

She gave him a speaking look. "Of course I do. She would have said, 'Jason obviously doesn't love me,' and I would have said, 'Of course he does, you ninny,' and she would have said, 'But even after I bared my soul in that letter, he didn't come, so obviously, he doesn't,' and I would have said, 'What letter? He didn't get any letter,' and then you would have known all this two months ago, and she would be here with us, where she belongs." She tilted her head, considering, then added, "Or else, I should have just told you she was pregnant, instead of thinking I was saving you from heartache down the road by not getting you to go after her. She'd have been back here that way, too."

He grinned at her logic, which he couldn't really argue with, so he reached out and hugged her instead. "You're probably right. But I'm sure she'll understand. Want me to have her call you?"

"Well, yeah, since I'm guessing you don't want me tagging along," she teased.

"Not on your life," he agreed.

XXXXXXXXX

"Where's my wife?" Jason demanded without preamble, as soon as he stepped through the doors of the Bellagio and saw Andrew. He knew that she had come here when she left, and he had been told that the concierge had picked her up at the airport, so he figured the man knew where she was.

"Oh, you remembered suddenly that you have a wife," Andrew mocked. Jason was mildly impressed – the man _did_ know his reputation, didn't he?

"I always knew I had a wife," Jason said tersely. "I just didn't know she still wanted a husband."

Andrew's look said _you're an idiot,_ but mercifully, all he said was, "Well, at this point, I think she's given up, so you may have some work to do to convince her of that … or anything else, for that matter."

"I'm aware of that," Jason said tightly. "What I'm not aware of is _where she is_."

"She's probably at work," Andrew shrugged, seemingly not the least bit intimidated.

"Which is where, exactly?" Jason's patience was wearing really thin.

Andrew sighed. "Before I tell you, you have to swear you're not gonna upset her. She's pregnant, you know. She's supposed to avoid stress."

"I'm not gonna upset her," Jason said. "But I really need to talk to her, and if you don't tell me, I'm gonna have to find out some other way, but that will take time, and I don't want to waste any more time. And while I'm waiting to find out where she is, I think I'll just stay right here and keep you company."

He saw Andrew consider that. He knew that, dressed in his leather jacket and jeans, he looked rather dangerous, which didn't quite fit the image the Bellagio wanted to project. Finally, Andrew said, "All right, fine. But if you upset her, I don't care who you are, I'll make you sorry." He ruined any potential impact of his words by sniffing delicately and tossing his head.

Jason rolled his eyes. Andrew was not exactly intimidating, so he didn't bother taking the threat seriously. And anyway, he was somewhat pleased that Andrew was so protective of Elizabeth – it was nice to know she had one loyal friend in her life. So instead of grabbing the man by the throat and shaking the information out of him, he merely said tightly, "I already told you, I'm not gonna upset her."

"Fine. See that you don't. She works at the art gallery at the Venetian. She's using her maiden name."

Jason didn't like the sound of that. Maybe she really _had _given up on him. He said, "Thanks," and turned and headed out the door without waiting for a response.

Half an hour later, he finally caught sight of her for the first time in more than two months. She was gesturing toward a painting as she spoke to a group of people, and the movement emphasized the bulge at her waist where his baby was growing. He sucked in a breath, amazed at how beautiful she looked, standing in profile. For several minutes, he just watched her, content for now to just see for himself, after all this time, that she was all right. She touched her belly and said something to the group that made them laugh, then led them to a different painting.

He followed, watching from a distance, for the rest of the tour.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Elizabeth was in the middle of describing the history of a Monet to a tour group when she felt it. She paused mid-sentence and reminded herself that she was imagining it, as she had so many times that first month. She had always looked eagerly around, hoping he was really there, and then been devastated all over again when he wasn't. Finally, she had learned that if she just ignored the feeling and didn't look for him, it would go away. And over time, the feeling had come less frequently, so she was a little surprised to feel it today.

She took a deep, calming breath, and when an elderly woman asked her if she was okay, she smiled, patting her belly, and said, "Oh, the baby just decided to play some soccer." The group laughed and they moved along to the next painting.

This time, however, the feeling didn't leave. She felt his eyes on her for the rest of the tour, and finally, when she could stand it no longer, she whirled around, determined to convince herself once and for all that he wasn't there, and he wouldn't ever be there again.

Except this time, he _was _there, with that look in his eyes that he had always seemed to have when he looked at her.

She felt a roaring in her ears, and the world went black. She was unaware that he flew across the room, barely reaching her in time to catch her before she would have hit the floor.


	24. Pinch Me

**FNF 30: Pinch Me**

**Prompt: For things that are seen pass away, but the things that are unseen are eternal. ~ L.M. Montgomery**

Elizabeth slowly became aware that she was moving. Frowning, she wondered where she was, just as the movement stopped. She heard a whispered conversation, and realized she was in the hospital, and they must have just pushed her gurney into a room or something. She was too tired to open her eyes and see. She had no idea how she had gotten here, though. The last thing she remembered was …

"Jason." She whispered the name, but she kept her eyes closed because that way, she could pretend for a few more minutes that she really _had _seen him. That he really was there.

"Thank God," he said, and her eyes flew open. She hadn't been dreaming – he really was here, and he was teasing her, if the smile on his face was any indication. "I was starting to think I would have to hide from Andrew."

"Andrew?" she frowned, confused. "Why would you hide from Andrew?" She drank him in with her eyes, her frown deepening when she realized how thin he was. Had he been injured and no one had told her?

"He threatened my life if I upset you, before he would tell me where you were." His eyes grew serious, but he kept his voice light. "The doctors want to keep you overnight for observation, since you fainted. Almost gave me a heart attack – I didn't think I would reach you before you hit the floor."

"But what are you doing here?" She couldn't contain her curiosity, even though she wanted him to go away before he broke her heart all over again.

"I'm sorry it took me so long," he said soberly. "I just got your letter three days ago. And I wasn't in any shape to travel until today. Alan actually tried to convince me to wait another day, but I couldn't."

"What letter?" she asked. "I didn't send you a letter three days ago. And why couldn't you travel? Are you hurt?"

He looked pleased by her concern, which confused her. He didn't want her, but he wanted her to worry about him? That certainly didn't seem fair, and she was going to tell him so, just as soon as he explained what was going on.

He was speaking again, his voice gentle now. "I didn't say you _sent_ it three days ago. I said I _got_ it three days ago." Her continuing confusion must have shown, because he picked up her hand, twined his fingers with hers, and added, "Three days ago, I finally got the letter you left me two months ago."

"But … I left it right in the middle of the desk," she protested, then, eyes widening, she wondered aloud, "Oh, my God, Jason, did you get arrested?" She felt the blood drain from her face as another thought occurred to her. "Oh, Jason, please tell me you didn't get shot."

He looked chagrined. "No, nothing like that. I'm fine. Really," he insisted when she gave him a skeptical look. "I didn't get your letter because Carly found it first, and she took it."

"What?" She couldn't wrap her mind around the idea that he hadn't known anything about her letter until three days ago. She was suddenly struck by the other implication of what he had just said. "Carly took my letter? Did she read it?" The idea of anyone but Jason reading her private thoughts and feelings made her feel violated.

He nodded, looking apologetic. "Apparently, she decided it would be better for me not to know anything in it, so she just … kept it."

"Then how did you get it?"

"She got worried, so she gave it to Sonny. He gave it to me."

Elizabeth frowned. What was he not telling her? "Jason, that makes no sense. You said you weren't injured, so what would Carly be worried about?"

He squeezed her hand. "I wasn't injured, I promise." He sighed. "Let's just say that when I thought you left without a word, I didn't take it very well."

"Let's _not_ just say that – let's explain that a little more," she countered, growing irritated at his evasiveness. "What _exactly_ did you do that got her so worried?" He shifted uncomfortably, and she looked at him more closely. "Are you blushing?"

"I don't blush," he said defensively. "You don't really want to hear this. You're not supposed to get upset."

"If you want me not to be upset, you better tell me. Whatever it is, it can't be as bad as I'm imagining, if it had Carly worried enough to come clean. She had to know you'd be ready to strangle her."

"Yeah. She pointed that out when I told her to stay out of my life."

"You – Jason, you're scaring me," Elizabeth said. "Just tell me already."

He sighed, apparently realizing that she wasn't going to let this go. "Well, I'm not very proud of my behavior," he said quietly. "Basically, I had to know you were okay, so I searched until I found out where you went, but then once I knew you were all right, I decided to let you go because that's what I thought you wanted. But it turned out that I couldn't really do that, so I pretty much did whatever I could to forget. Which was just stupid, because you don't forget the person you love more than anyone or anything in the world, no matter how much you drink or how many fights you pick."

"You were drinking and picking fights? Oh, Jason," she sighed, shaking her head. Suddenly the rest of what he had said registered. "Wait! You _love_ me? Did you just say you _love _me?"

"Well, yeah. I would think that the attempt to drink and/or fight myself to death would make that obvious."

"You _really_ love me?" she asked again.

"Yes, I really do." Her disbelief must have shown on her face, because he said it again, "I really love you. Forever. I promise." He sounded so sure, so certain, that she burst into tears.

He looked panicked. "That's supposed to make you _happy_, Elizabeth. You said in the letter that you loved me, so I thought you would be happy that I love you, too." Hearing that, she cried harder. His voice was desperate when he added, "Please don't cry. I won't say it anymore if it upsets you."

"It _does_ make me happy," she wailed. "And I _want_ you to say it, if you mean it." She sniffed and gave him a narrow look. "You _do_ mean it, don't you?"

"Of course I mean it," he insisted. "Why would I say it if I don't mean it?" he asked, then immediately wished he hadn't.

She cried harder. "Be-because of the b-baby!"

He looked confused. "What does the baby have to do with anything? An hour ago, you thought I didn't want the baby, and now you think I'm pretending to love you because of the baby?"

"Well, when you say it like that, it just sounds stupid," she sobbed.

He wondered how this conversation had gotten away from him so fast. "Elizabeth, please calm down. This can't be good for the baby."

That just set her off again. "You think I'm a terrible mother, don't you?" she wailed.

"_No,_ I don't think you're a terrible mother. I know you're a _wonderful_ mother. I couldn't have found a better mother for my child if I had searched everywhere on earth."

"How do you know that?" He had the distinct impression that nothing he said would calm her down, so he started stroking the hand he still held as she spoke. "You didn't even know I _was _a mother till three days ago."

He couldn't take it anymore. "Elizabeth, I _know_ you. You are the best _person_ I know, and therefore you will also be the best _mother_ I know."

"No, I'm a _horrible_ person." She sniffed loudly. "A good person wouldn't have left you without a word."

"Hey," he argued, keeping his voice gentle as he stroked the back of her hand. "None of that. You didn't leave me without a word. You left me a letter, and it's not your fault that I didn't get it, or that I'm an idiot and didn't come and get you anyway." He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it softly.

"Well, why didn't you?" she demanded suddenly, sitting up in bed and glaring at him accusingly, but she didn't pull her hand away. "If you love me so much, why did you leave me here all by myself?"

"I just _told_ you I'm an idiot." She sobbed harder, so he added more gently, "Elizabeth, sweetheart, please try to calm down. You're not supposed to get upset. If you don't find a way to calm down, they're gonna make me leave."

She said, "No, don't leave! I'm sorry. I'll calm down." She tightened her grip on his hand when he shifted. "I will, I promise."

"Shhhh," he soothed. "I'm not leaving. I just want to hold you, okay?" She nodded and moved to make room. He lay down carefully next to her and pulled her into his arms. "I promise, I'm not going anywhere unless you come with me, okay?" She lay with her head on his chest, right over his heart, and sighed. He stayed silent for several minutes, stroking her hair and savoring the feel of her in his arms, until he felt her relax against him at last.

It seemed that the stress of the day caught up with her, because she sounded like a sleepy five-year-old when she asked, "Promise?"

He smiled and kissed the top of her head, stroking one hand soothingly up and down her back. "I promise." She sighed and nodded. Moments later, she drifted off to sleep, using his chest as her pillow.

He stayed awake for hours, content to just be with her while she slept. Eventually, the stress and punishment he had put his body through over the last two months caught up with him, and he drifted off to sleep.

XXXXXXXXX

Hours later, Elizabeth woke with a start. She had a moment of panic, thinking she had been dreaming about him again, but it seemed more real this time. But then she realized that although she was awake, she could still feel him holding her … could still hear his heart beating under her ear … could still see the steady rise and fall of his breath.

Nevertheless, just to be sure, she pinched him.

"Ow," he complained groggily. "Wha' wuzzat for?"

She smiled at the way he slurred his words sleepily. "I just needed to make sure you were really here," she whispered. "Now go back to sleep."

"Don' wanna," he answered in the same low tone, without opening his eyes.

"Why not?" she asked curiously. "You sound like you're barely awake."

"Wanta kiss goodnight," he sighed. "Din't get one b'fore." He tightened his arms around her and pulled her up until he could reach her lips with his. He kissed her sweetly, then sighed again. "Better," he said, and moments later, he drifted back to sleep, seemingly content.

Elizabeth watched him sleep for several minutes, marveling at his presence and at the fact that, apparently, Emily had been right all along – he really _did _love her, and he really _did _want their baby, after all. She smiled, realizing that her friend was never gonna let her live this one down.

His hand shifted, although he didn't wake up again, coming to rest on her abdomen. Satisfied, she scooted back down to lay her head on his chest once more. The twin rhythms of his breathing and his heartbeat were soothing, and eventually, she fell back to sleep with a smile on her face.


	25. You Want What!

**FNF 31: You Want What?!**

**Prompt: Maple Syrup**

The next morning, Elizabeth pushed the food around on her plate, looking at it as though some kind of poison were the main ingredient.

"What's the matter?" Jason asked, concerned. "Aren't you hungry?"

"Not for _this_," she replied, sounding disgusted. He knew hospital food probably wasn't exactly gourmet, but wasn't she overreacting just a little bit to bland eggs and toast?

"I could go get you something else," he offered tentatively. She had already cried three times in the hour since he had woken up, and he didn't want to set her off again if he could help it.

"No, that's okay," Elizabeth said, blushing lightly, and he wondered why she sounded defensive.

"But, sweetheart, you have to eat something," he said, keeping his voice gentle, but she burst into tears anyway. "What? What did I say?" he asked, panicking as he suspected he always would when she cried.

"Nothing," she said, smiling through her tears. She pushed the tray away and patted the bed beside her. She waited while he moved gingerly to her side, and she tugged at him until he lay down next to her, then pulled his arm around her and relaxed against him as she continued speaking. "I just can't believe you're really here with us. It's everything I've dreamed about since the minute I left, and every time you say something wonderful – well, it just keeps hitting me that you _are _here, and then I have a moment of panic that maybe I'm dreaming or wishing or something, and you _aren't _really here…" she trailed off, then looked up at him. "I know I'm not making any sense, but I'm pregnant, and I'm sure with my hormones and my emotions all over the place, you're gonna have to get used to me crying over any little thing for a while."

He groaned aloud. "Sweetheart, you have no idea what it does to me to see you cry. Isn't there anything I can do to minimize that?" He paused, frowning as a thought occurred to him. "Wait, telling you that you should eat and offering to get you something is so wonderful that it made you cry?" Jason couldn't keep the confusion out of his tone.

She giggled in response, and peeked up at him from beneath her lashes. "Well, yes, Jason, it is. Because it means you're here with me and even though it's a little thing, I just realized that it's not just breakfast, it's you saying you love me. Isn't it?"

"Well, yeah," he answered. "I guess it is. I hope that everything I do reminds you that I love you." He kissed the top of her head and couldn't resist teasing her a little. "Even though I hope you don't need a reminder already, since I just told you ten minutes ago."

She giggled again. "Well, I hope you really mean it, because you're probably gonna think that what I want for breakfast sounds gross. I mean, you haven't _seen_ gross until you've seen a pregnant woman with a craving."

He chuckled. "Elizabeth, why don't you just tell me what it is? Whatever it is, it won't make me love you any less, I promise."

"Well, I was sorta hoping they would release me soon. I have everything to make what I want at home. And I think you would have trouble getting it anywhere else …"

Elizabeth's doctor breezed in and asked jovially, "Did I hear someone say they want to go home?" He crossed the room and shook Jason's free hand. "You must be the husband. I'm Dr. Anderson, Elizabeth's OB. It's nice to finally meet you." There was no accusation in his tone, just cordiality and even pleasantness, and Jason relaxed marginally, liking the man's twinkling eyes and ready smile.

Elizabeth sat up quickly, eyes sparkling. "I can go home? Really?"

"Yes, everything looks good, so you're out of here. Just try to take it easy for a couple of days, okay? We don't want any more fainting spells – you're lucky you didn't hurt yourself. So no work until Monday." He paused, glancing through Elizabeth's chart, then looked up and smiled at his patient.

She asked, blushing, "What about … um, well, I haven't seen Jason in a really long time and I was wondering …" She trailed off, looking at Jason for help.

Both men realized what she was asking, and they smiled at her as the doctor spoke. "Sexual activity is okay, as long as you don't try any gymnastics or anything like that. And before you ask, what I mean is, no vigorous activity of any kind while standing up – you're unlikely to faint if you're sitting or lying down." He wrote something in the chart and said, "Now, I just need you to sign here and you can head on home." Handing her the clipboard, he waited while she signed. "Now, what are you craving this time?"

Her blush, which had just started to fade, returned full force. "Well, um … I haven't had a chance to tell Jason about the cravings yet."

"Cravings?" Jason asked. "What cravings?"

"Well, it started out simple," Elizabeth replied. "First it was things like fruits or potato chips or Pad Thai or whatever, but lately …"

The doctor laughed. "It _has _gotten interesting, hasn't it? We graduated from specific foods or particular ethnic types to interesting combinations. Like vanilla ice cream with hot sauce or avocados with hot fudge. So what is it today? Hot peppers with caramel?"

His guess made her laugh, and Jason braced himself when she said, "No, I've reached a whole new level of interesting today. I just desperately want a fluffer nutter sandwich this morning."

Jason was confused – that didn't sound so strange. Until she added in a dreamy voice, "Made with dill pickles, sweet peppers, and maple syrup. _That_ would really hit the spot."

Fortunately, Elizabeth seemed to recognize the absurdity of it – she started giggling at the looks of revulsion on the men's faces, and soon all three of them were laughing boisterously. The doctor was still chuckling when he said goodbye and left them a moment later.

XXXXXXXXXXX

An hour later, Jason put a plate down in front of his wife, who was sitting on the floral sofa in her apartment. "If this doesn't show you how much I love you, I don't know what will," he teased. He couldn't believe she was really going to eat that, but he had made it for her anyway. He was determined, from now on, to give her anything she might want.

She smiled at him, then let out a delighted moan as she took the first bite. "Oh, Jason, it's perfect! Just perfect," she repeated, and then said nothing more until she had finished her sandwich. Her obvious enjoyment turned Jason's thoughts toward other appetites that hadn't been satisfied in far too long, and he began shifting uncomfortably in the paisley armchair.

When she was done, he asked, "What's with all the patterns on the furniture? I thought you liked simple solids, but if you like patterns, we can replace the furniture back home …"

She grinned at him, her eyes telling him she knew he would hate this furniture. "Don't worry, Jason, I hate this stuff, too. I'd rather keep what we have, thank you." She sobered and added. "I only have it because I thought it wouldn't remind me of you." His self-loathing for what he put her through must have shown, because she said, "Jason, it's okay. Really. You're here now, and I know you love me, and I hope you know I love you. You don't have to worry, and you don't have to cater to my every whim. I'm not ever leaving you again. I promise."

He digested that for a long moment before he answered. "I just – I don't ever want you to doubt or wonder again how much you mean to me. I want you to be happy, and I want you with me, and I don't think I'll ever stop giving you anything in my power to give you so that you really know that."

She smiled and moved to sit on his lap. "Jason, it's not your fault that I got insecure. It was a whole bunch of things, but it wasn't you."

"What things?" he asked. "Unless you don't want to tell me," he added when she didn't immediately answer.

"No, I do want to tell you," she answered. "Or maybe it would be more accurate to say I _need _to tell you. I just – I'm still kind of figuring it out in my own mind, you know? But it's obvious that not talking to each other just led to us being apart for two months – all because I made wrong assumptions about what you wanted, and you made wrong assumptions about what I wanted. So I think we have to clear the air, and from now on, to talk about everything that's important to us. Okay?"

"Yeah, but we promised to be honest with each other before, remember? And then we weren't."

"That was my fault. I should have just told you about the baby instead of letting it turn into this giant secret between us."

He shook his head. "I didn't make you feel safe enough to tell me. I didn't know how to tell you how much you meant to me, so I didn't say anything. From now on, I'm going to make sure you always feel like you can tell me anything."

She smiled and kissed him before she answered. "Okay, I'll accept that we both made mistakes. You didn't tell me how you felt, and I didn't tell you how I felt. I've been thinking about why I didn't recognize how you felt anyway – because I was thinking in the shower this morning about all the things you did that should have told me even without the words. I mean, you set limits with Carly, and you freaked out when you thought I might not be safe, and you kept trying to get my grandmother to come around. Those things would never have occurred to you to do if I wasn't important to you."

"I just always want you to be happy," Jason said again. "But I shouldn't have expected you to know that when I didn't tell you."

"Well, the thing is, Jason, it all ties back into my history, and also what led to our marriage." He hated thinking about the violence that had set their marriage in motion, but he didn't interrupt. "Do you remember when we told my grandmother that we got married?" He nodded. "Her reaction just crystallized my belief that no one would ever love me enough to accept me no matter what. My parents didn't, my sister and brother didn't, and now my grandmother didn't, either, so how could anyone else? So when Emily kept telling me you loved me and would love our baby, I just couldn't really believe it because I didn't really think I was enough as just me. I didn't really believe I was lovable."

He tightened his arms around her. "Elizabeth, you are the most lovable person I know. I wish I could find a way to tell you so you'll really get it." He sighed. "But I'm not good with words – I don't think there _are _words. All I can tell you is, I spent the last two months without you, and I don't ever want to go through anything like that again. I almost didn't survive it – I wouldn't have if the guards hadn't had my back every minute."

She said, "Well, I think from your perspective, you were working off the last real conversation we had about our marriage, which was before we even got married." He looked at her questioningly. "We were on the plane, coming here to get married, and we agreed that we would get married "just in case," but when everything blew over about Sorel, we would get an annulment. And even though I now realize that we both quickly changed our minds and decided that we wanted to stay together, we never actually talked about it. So the last you heard, I was planning on an annulment eventually, and the last I heard, you were planning the same thing. So we were both thinking the other one was thinking this was temporary. And then, even though I made you promise to be honest about us, I never made you the same promise, did I? And you kept trying to get me to talk to you, but I was too scared to be that vulnerable."

"For the record, Elizabeth, I never changed my mind about an annulment." Jason said quietly.


	26. Getting It Right

_A/N: Just one more chapter to go after this one ... Enjoy!_

**FNF #32: Getting It Right**

**Prompt: Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the number of moments that take our breath away.**

Elizabeth sucked in a breath at Jason's words. _I never changed my mind about an annulment._ But immediately she realized, from the look on his face, as well as the way his grip tightened around her, that he hadn't meant that the way it sounded. So she gave him an encouraging smile and waited for him to clarify. He said, "I never really wanted an annulment in the first place. I just – I thought I was ruining your life, and I didn't want you to be stuck with me. And then you suggested that we get married and then get it annulled, and it was like a way that I could let myself marry you like I really wanted to, but still tell myself that I wouldn't be ruining your life forever. So I told myself, and you, that it was temporary. But deep down, I always wanted it to be permanent."

"Well, there you go, Jason. I only suggested an annulment in the first place because I thought you wanted it. I didn't want you to feel like you were stuck with me, either. But I was really hoping you would change your mind. Only it turns out, I should have been hoping you wouldn't change your mind. So," she smiled, "We were in agreement, but not on what we thought we were in agreement on. I guess that just proves that we should be honest with each other, even if we think we won't agree."

"I guess it does," he grinned back. "So, we've learned two important things – to be honest with each other, and that I should keep reminding you in every way I can think of that I love and adore you exactly the way you are."

She laughed and said, "Jason, I promise I won't forget, now that I really know." She decided she had had enough conversation for the time being, so she kissed him quickly, then pulled back and gave an exaggerated yawn. "Now, I'm thinking I should take a nap." She batted her eyelashes. "You heard the doctor – I'm supposed to get some rest. Maybe you should carry me to bed."

She was pleased when he smiled sensually. "Maybe I should. I could tuck you in," he added helpfully. "Although," he teased wickedly, "I'm not sure how much rest you'll actually get if I do." He captured her lips in a searing kiss.

When he pulled back, she was already on fire. "Well, maybe if we just lie down for a while," she suggested, as innocently as she could manage while fidgeting to ease the growing ache in her lower body. "And, really, the main thing is that I don't faint again, so lying down is good." She kissed him again, and when he stood suddenly, carrying her in a rapid stride to the bedroom, she knew teasing time was over, and playtime was just beginning.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Two hours later, Elizabeth woke to the sound of low voices in the other room. She wondered idly who Jason was talking to, but since the talk was punctuated with bursts of low laughter, she didn't worry about it. Besides, she was feeling entirely too lazy and satisfied to get up and get dressed to go investigate.

After several minutes, her patience was rewarded when Jason slipped quietly into the room, wearing a pair of jeans but no shirt, and carrying something in his left hand. As he tiptoed toward the bed, she asked languidly, "Who was that?"

He started, having apparently not immediately realized she was awake, then jerked his hand behind his back, hiding whatever he was carrying. He leaned over to kiss her when he reached the bed. "That was Andrew, dropping off your surprise."

"Jason!" she protested. "I don't need a surprise! I have _you _now, and that was the best surprise ever, so don't waste your money surprising me with – with _stuff._"

He grinned, unrepentant, and said, "Well, technically, this isn't a new surprise. It's part of an old surprise. It's not my fault you didn't keep it the first time I gave it to you."

Frowning in confusion, Elizabeth said, "Jason, what are you talking about? I've kept everything you ever gave me."

"No, you didn't. You thought this was too much, and you argued and argued until the jeweler had no choice but to make it a loan."

"What? I never –" She broke off, suddenly realizing what he was talking about. Still, she asked, just to be sure. "Jason, are you talking about the jewelry I wore at our wedding?"

He smiled and pulled his hand from behind his back, and she could see now that it was a velvet jewelry box. She opened it, and the jewelry was so beautiful, even more so now that she understood that it was yet another expression of love, that she burst into tears again.

She couldn't help laughing through her tears at the panicked expression that crossed his face again, as it had every time she had cried in front of him since he had arrived in Las Vegas. She pulled him down for another kiss, and her tears were quickly forgotten as things heated up between them again.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Later that night, Jason watched her as they ate dinner. He couldn't believe she had talked him into going to three different restaurants for takeout – he would have been content with just a burger or just Chinese food, but she wanted both of those plus tiramisu, and he couldn't bring himself to say no. So he had eaten his burger and fries, and had watched in amazement as she packed in a half a burger, a few fries, an eggroll, some wonton soup, and a generous portion of tiramisu. She was still tiny, despite the baby bulge that he had enjoyed exploring earlier, so he had no idea where she was putting it all.

When they were done, he insisted that she rest and sip her chocolate milkshake while he cleaned up. When he came back into the room, she looked up and asked, "So what happens now?"

"Now?" he asked, unsure what she was asking. "Do you want to watch a movie? Or I could read to you, if you want." He sat next to her on the couch, and when she immediately scooted over to snuggle with him, he slid his arm around her and smiled. "Or whatever you want to do."

"No, I mean, when do we have to go back to Port Charles? I mean, I'd have to check with the doctor, but it's probably okay for me to travel still."

"Do you – do you _want _to go back to Port Charles?"

"Well, your job is there, and your family …"

"That's not what I asked, Elizabeth." He squeezed her gently. "I asked if _you_ want to go back. Because I told Sonny that I might not be back for a while, or ever, depending on what you want."

"You did?" She thought about that. "Well, yeah … I mean, I guess I want to go back. I mean, Emily is there, and …" she paused. "And you like working with Sonny, and … I guess I still hope that Grams will come around."

"Sweetheart, if you don't want to go back, we don't have to go back. If you're happy, I'll be happy, whether we live in Port Charles or here, or in – in a shack in sub-Saharan Africa. And Emily and Sonny and whoever else can always visit us, or we can visit them. I mean, I would like to visit Grandmother, at least, since she can't travel and I want her to know the baby. But other than that, we can live wherever you want."

She sighed. "Port Charles is home, you know? But it's also so stressful right now." She glanced at him. "Is Taggert still giving you a hard time about Sorel?"

"Not so much lately. I think he was hoping I would drink myself to death or something." He grinned and kissed her. "Actually, he probably figured if he bugged me enough, I would live just to spite him, so he left me alone in hopes that I would drop dead or disappear or something."

She laughed and smacked him lightly. "Well, that's good, I guess. It's a good thing you didn't oblige him, because if you did – well, you don't _ever_ want to see me that mad."

"No, I'm sure I don't," he replied. He couldn't resist kissing her again. After a moment, he said, "We don't have to decide about Port Charles right now. You can think about it, if you want."

"Oh, did you have something else you wanted to do right now?" she asked sweetly, but her innocent tone was belied by the look in her eyes and the way she rubbed sinuously against him.

He groaned, "As you no doubt know, I _always_ want to do _that _with you. But we can talk some more, anyway." He frowned. "Come to think of it, you got very good at distracting me with lovemaking to avoid talking to me. Promise me you won't do that anymore."

She said seriously, "I didn't think you noticed that's what I was doing. Actually, I didn't even realize it myself, at the time. I mean, that was probably part of it, but I also really, really love making love with you, so that factored in, too. But if you ever think I'm doing that again, please point it out, because I don't want to do that anymore."

He said, "Deal. So, do you want to keep talking, or do you want to move on to other activities?"

She giggled. "Well, I think I've decided, assuming you're okay with it. I do want to go back to Port Charles, eventually – for all its faults and its stresses and whatever, it's still home, you know?" He nodded, knowing just what she meant. "But … um, I think I would rather stay here until the baby comes. I really like Dr. Anderson, and I just – I guess I don't want to deal with all the reactions we're gonna get from everyone back there. I don't think that kind of stress would be good while I'm still pregnant, you know?"

Jason said, "That's fine. I think everyone will come around, eventually – at least, I hope they will. But I agree that you don't need any unnecessary stress right now, so we'll stay here until you decide you want to go back – or until you decide you want to go somewhere else. Whatever you want is fine with me."

Elizabeth teared up again. "Oh, Jason, you are so good to me. I love you so much. Are you sure you don't mind?"

"I love you, too, and I'll actually feel better knowing that you can just relax and fully enjoy the rest of your pregnancy, so no, I really don't mind." She gasped suddenly, putting a hand to her side. His tone was panicky when he asked, "What? What is it? Are you okay? Should I call an ambulance?"

She grabbed his hand, moving hers aside to put it on her abdomen, and laughed delightedly. "No, Jason, I think calling an ambulance because the baby kicked is a bit of an overreaction, don't you?"


	27. Fairy Tale Ending

_A/N: And so, we come to the end of Hide & Go Seek ... I hope you've enjoyed reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it! Which translates to -- I hope you'll check out the "Coming Soon" section of my profile to see what comes next for our lovely couple in the sequel I'm planning! It's called "Peek-a-Boo" and I'm very excited about it! So check it out, and please, let me know what you think! Oh, and if you usually lurk (which I understand because I have lurking tendencies myself), this is the perfect time to pop out of lurking mode and let me know what you thought of this story ..._

_Yes, I am a feedback addict, and I am shamelessly seeking fixes! LOL!_

**FNF 33: Fairy Tale Ending**

**Prompt: Heart Attack**

_Four months later_

When Elizabeth woke up, the first thing she heard was Jason, talking softly to their new daughter. "Now, Rose," Jason was saying softly, "There are some things you should know right away." She opened her eyes, and her heart melted when she saw the way he was looking at the baby. "First of all, I'm your dad. You can call me Daddy, as soon as you're ready to talk. Now, let me just tell you right away, I'm not much of a talker – " _Could've fooled me,_ Elizabeth thought, content to listen silently as Jason bonded with their daughter, " – and your mom is much better with words than I am. She's right over there, sleeping," he tilted his head toward Elizabeth without taking his eyes off his baby girl. "You kinda wore her out, and she needs some rest. I'll tell you a secret, though – you got _really _lucky when she turned out to be your mom. She loves you so much, and so do I. And we're gonna give you the best life we know how, I promise. And your mom says I'm a good listener, so even if I don't talk much, I promise you can tell me anything." He paused, then added seriously, "As long as it's not about boys. I think I should warn you now, so you won't be caught off guard when you're a teenager, that I'm probably never gonna be ready to let you date. I'm sorry about that, but I just don't think I can handle it. I know too much about what guys are like. But it's okay, 'cause you'll have lots of family and friends to keep you busy."

She must have made a sound, or maybe he just felt her watching him, because suddenly, he looked at Elizabeth and grinned self-consciously. "Hi," he said, walking over and giving her a gentle kiss. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired," she said, "but happy." She couldn't resist teasing him, just a little. "Jason, you _do _realize that she has no idea what you're talking about, don't you? Which is probably a good thing, since she's not ready to start arguing with you about boys quite yet."

He grinned. "She understands plenty, Elizabeth. She knows that I love her, and that I love her mommy. And she'll always know that the only man in her life is gonna be her daddy."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "Keep dreaming, Jason. Keep dreaming."

Emily opened the door and caught Elizabeth's comment. "About what?" she asked. "You up for visitors? 'Cause I'm dying to hold my niece."

"Sure, come on in. You can hold her if you can get her away from Jason. He seems to think he's gonna be able to keep her from dating – forever." Emily had called Elizabeth a couple of days after Jason had arrived in Vegas, and they had cleared the air between them. Emily had apologized for not being a true friend when Elizabeth needed her most, but Elizabeth had insisted that everyone had made their share of mistakes and the best thing for all of them would be to move on and leave all that in the past. Over the months in between, they had resumed their close friendship, and on the rare occasions when Elizabeth and Jason argued, Emily had steadfastly refused to take sides, always encouraging them to talk to each other and work it out sooner rather than later.

And Emily had become their most frequent guest. She had arrived for her first weekend visit a week after Jason, and she had come for at least a long weekend each month since then. Her current visit had lasted a week already, because she insisted that she didn't want to take a chance on missing her niece's birth. In that week, she had filled the spare room with toys and books for the baby, insisting it was her right and duty as an aunt to spoil her niece rotten. Since she was staying another three weeks to help out with Rose, Elizabeth figured they would soon run out of space.

Now, Emily rolled her eyes, just as Elizabeth had, at Jason's plan of keeping Rose away from boys forever. "Yeah," she snorted, "He better enjoy _that_ little fantasy while it lasts." She held out her arms to her brother, and he reluctantly handed over his daughter. "So, did you finally decide on a name?"

Elizabeth smiled. "Rose Emma Morgan, for Lila's favorite flowers, and for Rose's favorite aunt – and godmother?"

"Really?" Emily squealed, then lowered her voice quickly when Rose started to stir. "You want me to be her godmother?"

"Well, who else would we ask? You're her father's sister and her mother's best friend!" Elizabeth exclaimed, then she, too, lowered her voice so as not to wake her daughter. "So, will you do it?"

"Well, of course I will," Emily declared in a stage whisper, eyes dancing. Elizabeth giggled, realizing that Emily was dying to dance around and hug everyone, but wasn't willing to relinquish the baby to do so.

The door opened slowly behind Emily, and Elizabeth waited for the nurse or doctor to appear, wondering if they were going to want yet another blood sample. But it wasn't a doctor. Nor was it anyone else she might have expected – Andrew or one of her co-workers wouldn't have been a shock. The new arrival didn't immediately say anything, and it took Elizabeth a moment to find her voice.

Jason waited to see what she would do. Finally, she said tentatively, "Grams? I … um … I didn't expect … um, I thought you wanted … well, I thought you said you wouldn't … um …" She couldn't wrap her mind around the fact that her grandmother had traveled all the way from Port Charles to see her after everything she had said all those months ago.

"Elizabeth, darling," Audrey began tentatively, stepping fully into the room and allowing the door to close quietly behind her, then holding up a box. "I brought the baby a christening gown." She watched Elizabeth, and when she got no response, she said. "I owe you an apology, Elizabeth. I just love you so much, and I hate the idea that you might be in danger because of the choices you've made." Before Elizabeth could take offense, she added. "You have to understand, Elizabeth, that to me, you will always be the three-year-old who needs me to kiss her bruises and make them better, or the five-year-old who needs me to put a band-aid on her scrapes, or the teenager who needs me to soothe her pain when her parents fail her again. I will always want to protect you from the big, bad world like I did when you were a child. But you aren't a child anymore, and now you have a baby of your own, and I hope you'll forgive me for forgetting that you have the right, and even the responsibility, to make your own choices, whether I happen to agree with them or not." She crossed the room and brushed a stray lock of hair back from Elizabeth's cheek. "And I hope you'll also give me a chance to protect and to love your daughter the way I always tried to protect and love you."

Elizabeth swiped at her eyes. "Oh, Grams," she whispered, reaching out to grab her grandmother into a tight hug, "Of course I will. I love you so much, and I can't believe you came all this way for me."

"Sweetheart, where else would I be?" Audrey asked. "I always wanted you to be happy, and I'm sorry that it took me so long to see past my fears and prejudices and recognize that you are." She turned to Jason. "I finally realized that you wouldn't have kept trying to get me to reconcile with Elizabeth if you didn't really love her. I will probably never understand or agree with the choices you've made in other areas of your life," she gave him a sheepish smile, "But I have to admit, you have wonderful taste in women. I hope that we can get along, and maybe even be friends, for Elizabeth's sake, and for the sake of my great-granddaughter."

"I'd like that," Jason said simply. "We have a lot in common, you know. We both want them to be happy."

"Yes, we do, don't we?" Audrey said thoughtfully. She turned to Emily. "I don't suppose you'd be willing to let me hold my great-granddaughter?"

Emily sighed dramatically, "Well, I suppose I could share her with you. Audrey Hardy, meet Rose Emma Morgan," she added, placing the baby in Audrey's arms. "Just remember, you aren't allowed to outdo me in the spoiling department."

Audrey smiled. "Well," she said lightly, "this is going to be one spoiled baby, then, because you aren't allowed to outdo me, either." Her expression softened as she looked at the baby. "Hello, Rose, I'm your great-grandmother, but that's a mouthful, so you can call me Grams, just like your mother does."

Elizabeth couldn't believe this was happening. She had not allowed herself to hope that her grandmother would ever forgive her, and here she was, begging for Elizabeth's forgiveness. Now, if only her other friends would also come around …

Even as she had the thought, the door swung open again, and Elizabeth couldn't suppress a gasp as Nikolas walked in, carrying a Tiffany's box. _Probably a silver spoon,_ Elizabeth thought irreverently, then turned her attention to her new visitor. "Elizabeth," he said, hurrying to her side and kissing her cheek, "I'm sorry I was such a jerk. I allowed my concern for my brother to get in the way of our friendship, and that wasn't fair to you. You can't help who you love, and I shouldn't have let the fact that I didn't like your choice affect a friendship that's always been important to me. I hope you can forgive me."

"Nikolas," Elizabeth said. "I can't believe you're here. Um, yeah, of course I forgive you. I'm sorry that Lucky got hurt – that was never my intention. I just – I could never love anyone but Jason. I hope Lucky will find the right person some day, but I always knew it wasn't me."

"I know," Nikolas said. "And Lucky is doing okay. He said to send you his best wishes and congratulations. He couldn't get away right now – he's been dating someone, and she's really irrational when it comes to you." He rolled his eyes, and Elizabeth got the sense that Nikolas wasn't very fond of Lucky's new girlfriend. That impression was confirmed when he added, "But hopefully, either he'll come to his senses and move on, or failing that, once Sam sees that you're committed to Jason, she'll get over it." He turned to Jason, holding out his hand and looking relieved when Jason shook it. "Congratulations, man," he said.

"Thanks," Jason replied. "And thanks for coming. It means a lot to Elizabeth – to both of us – that you're here."

The door opened yet again, and Sonny poked his head in. "Is this a private party, or can anyone join?"

"The more, the merrier," Elizabeth said, smiling.

He came into the room, carrying a giant teddy bear with a pink bow around its neck, and paused to get a look at the newest member of the Morgan family. When he looked up and caught Elizabeth gaping at the teddy bear, he said, "Don't shoot the messenger – Carly picked it out." She couldn't help laughing when he rolled his eyes and added, "Can you imagine what it did to my reputation, walking around with this thing?" He leaned down to kiss her cheek in greeting. "Congratulations, sweetheart. She's a real beauty."

Like Emily, Sonny had actually visited them several times in the months since Jason had moved here, so she was getting to know him rather well, and although he certainly had his faults, she liked him. At first, she had worried that he would try to get Jason to come back to Port Charles sooner than they planned, but he had quickly allayed those fears. "Don't worry, Elizabeth. He wouldn't be any good to me, anyway, if he was worrying about you all the time. I just like to bounce stuff off him now and then – he keeps a cooler head than I do, so I value his opinion. Plus," he had grinned charmingly, showing off his dimples, "I gotta report back to Carly on whether he's forgiven her yet." She had laughed, feeling relieved, and after that, they had gotten along famously. She even looked forward to his visits, because he always commandeered the kitchen and made something wonderful for all of them to eat.

Now, looking around the room at the assorted visitors, all of whom would be an important part of her daughter's life, she marveled at how fortunate she was. She had everything she had ever wanted – everything she had never let herself dare to dream of.

Jason took advantage of everyone's focus on Rose to slip over and kiss her. "A penny for your thoughts," he said quietly near her ear.

"I was just thinking how life keeps on surprising me," she whispered back. "Who knew that I would end up grateful that Lucky kissed me all those months ago? At the time, I just wanted it not to have happened. But if he hadn't kissed me, I wouldn't have kissed you, and none of this –" she gestured at the room's occupants, "– would have happened, either."

He smiled. "Yes, it would have," he said confidently.

"Jason, you didn't even know I existed until then," Elizabeth argued, but without heat. "You don't have to pretend you ever would have noticed me. The important thing is, you did, and here we are."

He kissed her lingeringly again. "I know you think that's true, sweetheart, but I'd like to think I'm smarter than you're giving me credit for. I mean, maybe I hadn't _really_ noticed you yet, but as soon as you kissed me, I realized that I was _always_ subconsciously aware of how beautiful you are. I'd like to think that if it hadn't happened that way, something else would have happened at some point, and it would have opened my eyes, and I would have seen what was right in front of me. And we would still have wound up here." At her astonished look, he shrugged. "We belong together. I would have found you one way or another."

She smiled at his reasoning. "Well, can we at least agree that things happened sooner than they otherwise would have?"

He smiled back. "I guess I'll give you that. Even though I was probably just a day or two away from figuring it out, anyway."

She laughed at his certainty, and said, "And if you hadn't, I'm sure I would have found some reason or another to kiss you. It was so embarrassing, having the hots for my best friend's older brother."

He laughed, too. "Imagine how I felt, having the hots for my little sister's best friend!" Suddenly, eyes widening, he announced, "That's it! I've got it!"

"Got what?" she asked, perplexed.

"I figured out how to keep Rose safe from guys like me."

"Jason," she began, but he was still talking.

"We just won't let her have any friends who have older brothers, and we'll send her to all-girls schools for her entire life."

Elizabeth pulled him down for another lingering kiss. Finally pulling away, she held his gaze. "I happen to _want_ our daughter to find a guy like you, Jason. If she doesn't, how will she ever have a moment like this?"

He sighed. "Well," he said reluctantly, "I guess you're right, sweetheart. But it's a good thing I have a few years to get used to the idea." He gave her a warning look. "And don't expect me to let anybody hurt her."

"I promise," she teased. "You can even keep your gun handy. But you can't shoot her boyfriends – just scare them a little so they behave."

He sighed with mock disappointment. "Well, I'll try, for you. But no promises."

She laughed again. "Jason, you always give me everything I want, so even if you don't promise, I'm not worried."

He sighed. "I should have known you would figure out that I can't deny you anything."

She patted his hand. "Well, that's the way it works, Jason. It's kind of like a fairy tale. You give me everything I want, and I give you everything you want, and we live happily ever after."

XXXXXXXXX

Hours later, after everyone had left, Jason woke up, stiff from dozing in the chair by the bed with his feet propped up on it. Realizing Elizabeth was whispering to Rose, he strained to catch her words, and he almost laughed out loud when he registered what she was saying, "Now, baby, Mommy's gonna tell you a story. It's like a fairy tale, only it's better because it really happened. Once upon a time, in a place called Port Charles, there was a princess named Elizabeth, and a prince named Jason, and they knew each other, but they didn't realize they were supposed to fall in love and be together forever. They didn't even start to figure it out until one day, when Princess Elizabeth was sitting on a bench talking to Prince Jason about her friend, Sir Lucky…"


End file.
